The United States men's national team opened their 2019 FIBA World Cup trip in China with an 88-67 rout over the Czech Republic on Sunday.

Despite the many losses of big names to first-time USA Basketball head coach Gregg Popovich's squad, the Americans pulled off the first win in their round robin style of play during the group stage of the tournament. New Boston Celtics point guard Kemba Walker and Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner, however, could not deny anxiety building up for Team USA's first matchup of the international competition.

Via John Schuhmann in NBA.com:

“I thought we were rushing a lot offensively, just playing really fast,” Kemba Walker said about the early offensive struggles. “Maybe the adrenaline was just pumping so much, the excitement of being here and it being our first game. I thought when we slowed down and played with our pace, that's when things went right.”

Myles Turner summed it up: “We still got a lot of work to do. I think it was a good first game. We got the jitters out. Everybody was jacked up, amped to play. But on both sides of the ball, we still got a lot of film to analyze.”

Utah Jazz star guard Donovan Mitchell led the way with a team-high 16 points in the win over the Czechs. Walker added 13 points and four assists while Sacramento Kings veteran forward Harrison Barnes contributed 14 points and Turner had a poor shooting night, going 2-of-7 for four points, and collected seven rebounds.

Next up, the Americans face off with Turkey and later Japan this week to decide the standings in Group E, after which the top two teams advance to the knockout Round of 16 in their quest for gold at the second most important international basketball competition.