RJ Barrett plays one half in final warmup; Josh Hart does Josh Hart things for USA

Team Canada finished their World Cup warmup slate Friday with a loss to the Dominican Republic. True Canada basketball fans can take the loss with a grain of salt, however, since the Canadians rested their best players the entire second half. Of course, that includes Knicks wing RJ Barrett. But RJ still put in some work in his few minutes of action, dropping 10 points and two assists on the Dominicans.

Team USA also played Friday, and they had a much easier time with a Giannis Antetokounmpo-less Greece Squad. Jalen Brunson had nine points and seven assists in the USA victory. The big story from the warmup match, however, was the resurgent play of fellow Knick Josh Hart. He recently signed an extension with New York, and he missed Team USA’s first warmup game while he was waiting for the contract to become official. He had a bit of a hard time finding his stride in the first couple of games. But he really got back to the Josh Hart we know and love on Friday: nine rebounds, four assists, two steals, one block, ZERO field goal attempts.

If Josh Hart is going to play minutes for Team USA, he’s going to do Josh Hart things. The world needs to be prepared.

Team USA finishes up their own warmup slate Sunday against Germany. Then they head to the Philippines for the World Cup.