Australia's Dante Exum and Matthew Dellavedova helped prove the rest of the world is catching up to America in basketball.
The Australian duo's World team had an easy 121-112 victory over the US at the NBA's Rising Stars Challenge on Friday.
The game, one of the highlights of the All-Star weekend in New York, pits the best rookie and second-year players in the NBA against each other.
This year non-US born players took on America's best.
It was Canadian-born Minnesota Timberwolves forward Andrew Wiggins, the number one pick in last year's draft, and Exum's French-born Utah Jazz teammate Rudy Gobert who starred.
"This trophy is for the world and most importantly for Canada," Toronto-raised Wiggins said.
Wiggins had 22 points and six rebounds while Gobert had 18 points, 12 rebounds and three blocked shots.
Cleveland Cavalier Dellavedova is known for his hard-nosed defence, but on All-Star weekend defence is left in the locker rooms as teams run the floor.
Dellavedova had four points from 2-6 shooting, four rebounds and two assists.
Exum showed his skills, cutting through to the basket for a finger roll in the first half and in the second made Orlando Magic guard Victor Oladipo look like he was stuck in cement with slick moves at the top of the key.
Exum finished with four points from 2-4 shooting, three rebounds, three assists and three turnovers.
Oladipo was the best for the US team with 22 points, four assists, four steals and four turnovers.
The All-Star weekend also includes a skills challenge, three-point contest and slam dunk competition on Saturday (Sunday AEDT) and the NBA All-Star Game, featuring the best players in the league, on Sunday (Monday AEDT)
Share
