NEW YORK -- Chauncey Billups scored 17 points, nine in an early third-quarter flurry that broke open the game, and the United States beat France 86-55 on Sunday in its only home exhibition before the world championships.
Rudy Gay had 19 points to lead the Americans, who started slowly in their first tuneup before running away from the French in the second half. Billups, one of the few players on the roster with international experience, made three 3-pointers while playing just 15 minutes.
Team USA: Warmup Games
Here's Team USA's schedule of exhibitions leading up to the 2010 FIBA men's basketball championship slated for Aug. 28-Sept. 12 in Istanbul, Turkey:
• Sunday: USA vs. France, Madison Square Garden, 1 p.m. ET, ESPN2, ESPN3.com
• Aug. 21: USA vs. Lithuania, Madrid, Spain, 3 p.m. ET, ESPN, ESPN3.com
• Aug. 22: USA vs. Spain, Madrid, Spain, 3 p.m. ET, ESPN3.com
• Aug. 25: USA vs. Greece, Athens, Greece, Noon ET, ESPN2, ESPN3.com
• FIBA World Championships website
Kevin Durant added 14 points and eight rebounds for the Americans, who open the world championships on Aug. 28 against Croatia.
Boris Diaw scored 15 points for France, which surrendered a 16-4 run early in the third quarter after staying close with the Americans in the first half.
The Americans trimmed their roster to 13 earlier Sunday when they cut Jeff Green and JaVale McGee. The final cut will come sometime in Europe, perhaps not until they have completed their exhibition schedule.
They leave Monday for Madrid, where the schedule gets tougher. They face Lithuania and defending world champion Spain while there, then travel to Athens for a game against Greece.
The opener of a doubleheader at Madison Square Garden was the first international game for much of the U.S. roster. The Americans will send a young team to Turkey after all 12 players from the 2008 Olympic gold medalists decided to take the summer off.
That has left an athletic squad that features Tyson Chandler as the only center. The current roster also includes five 21-year-olds.
But it was Billups, at 33 the old man of the roster, who helped the Americans pull away.
France was down only seven after getting the opening basket of the second half before Billups' 3-pointer gave the Americans their first double-digit lead. After a basket by Chandler, Billups made another 3 for a 47-34 advantage with 7:46 left in the third.
Consecutive three-point plays by Billups and Durant pushed it to 55-36 with 5:05 to go in the period. The lead ballooned to 70-46 early in the fourth after two straight powerful dunks by Gay.
France is also short-handed this summer. Its best player, Tony Parker, sat courtside along with wife Eva Longoria Parker and another French player, new Knicks forward Ronny Turiaf.
The French still have NBA players such as Diaw and Nicolas Batum, who scored 11.
U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski went with Billups, Durant, Chandler, Rajon Rondo and Andre Iguodala to start the game. Kevin Love, who missed a day of practice this week with a calf injury, and Russell Westbrook didn't play until the fourth quarter.
The game was tied at 16 after a first quarter in which the Americans shot only 37.5 percent and committed five turnovers. Durant missed his first five shots but finally got a pair of dunks midway through the second period. Rondo had the last two U.S. baskets of the half, extending the lead to 39-30 at the break.
China played Puerto Rico in the second game
