ISTANBUL — Kevin Durant's shooting and Kevin Love's strength sent the United States to a 2-0 start in the world championship.
Durant scored 22 points, Love added 10 points and 11 rebounds off the bench, and the Americans beat Slovenia 99-77 on Sunday in an opening-round game.
Playing a rare early game, the U.S. players stalled after a quick start. But Durant came through with a basket whenever they needed it, and Love always seemed to be around the ball — even when a Slovenian player tried holding his arm so he couldn't get it.
Rudy Gay finished with 16 points for the Americans (2-0), while Russell Westbrook and Andre Iguodala each had 11. Durant shot 8 of 13 before sitting out the fourth quarter.
Bostjan Nachbar scored 13 points for Slovenia (1-1), which had an enormous edge in the stands but not enough to match the Americans on the court.
Slovenian fans, many dressed in green shirts, lined the streets outside the arena some 90 minutes before tipoff. They filled large areas throughout the arena, and stood and roared when the Slovenians came out for pregame warmups.
There wasn't as much for them to cheer about once the game started.
Durant ripped the ball away on Slovenia's opening possession and raced in for a dunk about 20 seconds into the game. Nachbar answered with a basket, but the Americans ran off 10 straight points, with Durant nailing a 3-pointer before throwing down another dunk for a 12-2 lead.
The Americans made eight of their first 11 shots from the field and led 23-11 after one quarter, then suddenly went cold in the second.
They didn't make a field goal for the first 61/2 minutes of the period, allowing Slovenia to crawl within 28-23 on Sani Becirovic's free throws with 3:36 to go. Westbrook snapped the U.S. out of that drought with a basket, then fed Love for another to start an 8-0 spurt that made it 36-23.
Love later flexed his muscle for another basket, grabbing an offensive rebound with one arm while Uros Slokar was holding the other, and putting it back in while being fouled.
The Americans led by 14 points at halftime before putting it away midway through the third quarter. Lamar Odom and Derrick Rose made consecutive 3-pointers, Iguodala had a steal and dunk, and Durant added a basket and 3-pointer for a 59-32 bulge with 41/2 minutes remaining.
The Slovenians got little from Phoenix Suns guard Goran Dragic, who had 16 points in their opening victory over Tunisia.
The Americans face Brazil on Monday night, then have an off day before their final two games in group play.
Group A
ANGOLA 79, JORDAN 65: Miguel Lutonda had 16 points and Angola (1-1) bounced back from a 50-point loss to Serbia in its opening game. Jordan (0-2), which was coming off a 76-75 loss to Australia in its opener, got within 59-55 on a 3-pointer by Mousa Alawadi with 4:38 to play. Lutonda answered with a 3 29 seconds later and Jordan got no closer. Rasheim Wright had 18 points for Jordan.
ARGENTINA 74, AUSTRALIA 72: Pablo Prigioni hit a 3-pointer with 33 seconds left and Luis Scola converted two late free throws for Argentina in another close win. Adam Gibson missed a last-second 3-point attempt for Australia (1-1). Scola finished with 31 points for Argentina (2-0), the team ranked No. 1 in FIBA world rankings. Argentina edged Germany 78-74 in its opener. Joe Ingles scored 22 points for Australia and Patty Mills added 21.
Group B
BRAZIL 80, TUNISIA 65: Leandro Barbosa scored 21 points and Tiago Splitter added 16 for Brazil (2-0), which will face the United States (2-0) on Monday. Barbosa scored 16 points in the first quarter — as many as Tunisia. Marouan Kechrid had 15 points for Tunisia (0-2).
Group C
CHINA 83, IVORY COAST 73: Yi Jianlian of the Washington Wizards scored 26 points and Wang Shipeng added 25 for China (1-1), which held a comfortable lead throughout the second half. Mouloukou Diabate had 20 points for Ivory Coast (0-2). Diabate's 3-pointer with 1:09 to play brought Ivory Coast within 80-73 but China closed the game by going 3 of 4 from the free throw line.
TURKEY 65, RUSSIA 56: Hedo Turkoglu, acquired recently by the Phoenix Suns, scored 14 points to lead Turkey (2-0), the host country for the 24-team tournament. Turkey led 33-22 at halftime after holding Russia to seven points in the second quarter. Sasha Kaun and Sergey Monya scored 13 points each for Russia (1-1), which finished 17 for 53 from the field (32.1 percent), including an 8-for-28 effort from 3-point range.
Group D
LITHUANIA 70, CANADA 68: Linas Kleiza had 18 points and 10 rebounds for Lithuania (2-0), which rallied from a 17-point deficit in the second half.
Jermaine Anderson missed a last-second 3-pointer for Canada (0-2). Lithuania used a 24-3 run to wipe out the 56-39 deficit with 5:19 to play in the third quarter. Tomas Delininkaitis' 3-pointer from the corner early in the fourth quarter gave Lithuania its first lead, 58-57.
FRANCE 85, LEBANON 59: Mickael Gelabale scored 18 points and Alain Koffi added 17 for France (2-0), which upset defending champion Spain in its opener. Jackson Vroman led Lebanon (1-1) with 19 points. The game was delayed for over 15 minutes with 5:07 left in the second quarter after France's Nicolas Batum, who plays for the Portland Trail Blazers, dunked and twisted the rim.
SPAIN 101, NEW ZEALAND 84: Spain, the defending champion, bounced back from its opening-day loss to France. Ricky Rubio had 11 assists for Spain (1-1), which opened the game on a 13-3 run and finished 10 of 20 from 3-point range and 21 of 25 at the free throw line. Marc Gasol of the Memphis Grizzlies led Spain with 22 points.