The United States survived a spirited comeback from world champion Spain to win 86-85 in thrilling a warm-up game Sunday, sending out a warning to its rivals ahead of the World Basketball Championships. The Olympic gold medallist has set out for Turkey with a side shorn of big names such as LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade who starred in Beijing. But the young replacements showed their mettle in a hostile Madrid against a more experienced side, who narrowly lost out on gold in China. Guard Kevin Durant led the way with game-high 25 points and eight rebounds, closely supported by Derrick Rose and Lamar Odom who sank 13 and 12 points apiece. Juan Carlos Navarro topped the scoring for the hosts with 20 points backed by Marc Gasol and Felipe Reyes who notched 17 and 16 each. “It was a great game and a great crowd. Two excellent teams who played to their max,” US coach Mike Krzyzewsky said. “Fortunately we had one more play than them. I feel lucky to have won. We started with a different line up and that was really what we wanted tonight, to take a better look at our players.” Spain perhaps missed the influence of Los Angeles Lakers forward Pau Gasol, who was watching from the stands after ruling himself out of the trip to Turkey. The MVP from the last world championships was sitting just behind the world's most expensive soccer player, Portugal and Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo in the packed arena.
