The 2014 FIBA World Cup is officially on, and the tournament favorites Spain and USA crushed their respective opponents in the opening day.
USA, who are missing several key players in this year World Cup, scored a dominating 114-55 win against Finland in their Group C showdown in Bilbao.
The Americans dominated in the second period, limiting Finland to just two points in the quarter to take a 60-18 lead heading into the half.
"Our coaches were encouraging us to keep up that effort by telling us every timeout, every dead ball, they only had two points or whatever," USA guard Stephen Curry said via ESPN. "That's just motivation to keep doing what we're doing."
Klay Thompson led the way for the Americans as he finished with 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting from the field with four three-pointers, while Anthony Davis added 17 points.
Derrick Rose also had a decent debut as he tallied 12 points and three assists in 23 minutes, while DeMarcus Cousins had nine points and 10 rebounds for USA, who are expected to top Group C.
Meanwhile, Spain, considered as the strongest threat to USA's title defense, also opened the tournament on a bright note, cruising to a 90-60 win against Asian champions Iran in Granada, Spain.
NBA superstar Pau Gasol was nearly unstoppable on Saturday, tallying 33 points and eight rebounds, while his brother, Marc, racked up 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Hammed Haddadi posted 16 points and 15 rebounds, but it was not enough to lead Iran to at least have a gallant stand against the host.
Meanwhile, Iran's Asian rival, Philippines almost scored the biggest upset in day one. Known as the "Gilas Pilipinas," the Andre Blatche-led team forced overtime before eventually falling to Croatia, 81-78, in the opening game of the 2014 World Cup.
Bojan Bogdanovic led the Croatian side with 26 points on 9-for-18 shooting, while Dario Saric had a solid tournament debut with 10 points and nine rebounds.
On the other hand, Blatche, a naturalized Filipino citizen, finished with 28 points and 12 rebounds, while sharp-shooting Jeff Chan ended up with 17 points, highlighted by four three pointers.
Complete results and schedule are available on this link, while match highlights can be viewed here.
