LAS VEGAS (Rio 2016 Olympic Games) - The United States sent out a loud message on Friday night about their potential this summer by claiming a resounding win over Argentina in their friendly.

Preparing to go after a third consecutive gold medal at the Olympics, the USA stormed out to a 32-14 lead and never looked back, ultimately recording a 111-74 victory.

Kevin Durant marked his return to the national team with a game-high 23 points and Paul George had 18 on his USA debut.

The most dominating performance was turned in by DeMarcus Cousins, who had 14pts and 15rbs while DeAndre Jordan came off the bench and had 6pts and 6rbs.

"He was incredible for us," Durant said of Cousins. "Our bigs, both of our bigs, we are going to need them to offensive rebound the way they did, and they got us so many wide open 3s. So, him and DJ did a great job for us on the offensive boards. DeMarcus is a bulldog down there for us."

Seven of Cousins' rebounds were on the offensive glass and of the USA's 53 boards, 22 came on the offensive end.

Argentina were overmatched but there was big positive. While Luis Scola, Andres Nocioni, Manu Ginobili and Carlos Delfino are NBA players or have been in the past, several teammates have not gone up against the sort of athleticism they encountered in the USA team.

"The experience of the young guys, this is good, because they know that level exists," Argentina coach Sergio Hernandez said.

"When we talked, when Manu talked, it's different – the potential and the details and the way to change the way you practice and to change your mind and everything – but if you don't have the experience, the personal experience, it's almost impossible (to compete against a team like the USA)."

Hernandez believes Argentina's centers Marcos Delia and Roberto Acuna will grow from the experience.

"Both of our big men are really young and have no experience," Hernandez said. "During the game, they got better and better, and finished strong. This was good for them."

Another positive for Argentina was that Ginobili and Delfino played for the national team the first time this summer. Delfino was a surprise inclusion in the national team after not playing at all for three years following an injury.

The game showed that the USA are going to be the team to beat once again. They rolled to the world title two years ago and now, despite the inclusion of several new players, Mike Krzyzewski's team looks formidable again.

FIBA