Washington Wizards rookie Rui Hachimura threw down a ferocious one-handed jam over Indiana Pacers forward Myles Turner during Japan's game against Team USA at the FIBA World Cup.
With roughly five and a half minutes remaining in the third quarter of Thursday's matchup, Hachimura received a pass on the left wing, then proceeded to make a cut toward the lane. He managed to get by his initial defender, which forced Turner to rotate into defensive position.
Turner, who's one of the better defenders in the NBA, rose up in an attempt to block Hachimura's shot, but it was simply too late:
"HE JUST RIPPED THROUGH THE OZONE LAYER!" pic.twitter.com/LtllBMfTc6
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) September 5, 2019
Although Hachimura managed to throw one down on Turner, the Japanese side actually struggled throughout Thursday's game. In fact, Team USA cruised to a 98-45 victory. Celtics forward Jaylen Brown led the Americans in scoring, racking up 20 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the field (2-of-6 from beyond the arc), seven rebounds, one assist and two steals. Hachimura, on the other hand, finished with four points, four rebounds, one assist and two steals.
Team USA (now 3-0 in this year's FIBA World Cup) was without the services of Jayson Tatum and Marcus Smart for Thursday's matchup against Japan. Tatum rolled his ankle in the closing seconds of Tuesday's overtime win over Turkey and was held out for recovery, while Smart is dealing with a quad issue.
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