Team USA guard Austin Reaves celebrates against Italy in the Fiba World Cup quarterfinals. -MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—With no one boxing him out, Team USA guard Austin Reaves wisely ran toward the rim and soared for a putback dunk off a Tyrese Haliburton miss that got the Mall of Asia crowd on its feet.
Reaves had been waiting for that exact moment ever since the United States’ first game in the Fiba World Cup here.
The follow up dunk finally happened on Tuesday with 44 seconds left in the second quarter of Team USA’s 100-63 romp of Italy in the quarterfinal round.
OH MY GOODNESS AUSTIN REAVES
📺 ESPN2/ESPN+
🇺🇸 #USABMNT #WinForUSA pic.twitter.com/Uu0mppvdtz— USA Basketball (@usabasketball) September 5, 2023
“It basically changed the whole game, I didn’t know if we were going to pull it out ’til then,” said Reaves, whose dunk made it a 24-point game, in jest.
“But realistically, I was messing around with my guys the other day, I’ve been trying to get one this whole time. I almost got one before but I need the ball to bounce perfectly for me to go get it.”
His timing was perfect but it was also about effort.
“Like I’ve said, I’ve tried to get a couple of those in this tournament but the ball hadn’t bounced the right way but it’s all really about effort to go and try to get the rebound,” said the Los Angeles Lakers rising star.
“Thank goodness, it came off the right way for me to be able to dunk it.”
Reaves finished with 12 points, four rebounds and three assists in close to 20 minutes.
“I’m not blessed with Ant’s athletic ability so I have to have a lot of things go in my direction,” he said, referring to his teammate Anthony Edwards.
Coming off a stunning loss against Lithuania on Sunday, 110-104, Reaves and Team USA bounced back big time to advance to the semifinals where a matchup against Germany or Latvia awaits.