China's idolized Yao Ming led the hosts with a double-double — 13 points and 10 rebounds — but the 7-foot-6 star was only 3-of-10 from the floor, with just one make inside the arc.

He opened the game with a trey from the top for the game's first basket 23 seconds in, a foreshadowing of China's first-half fireworks and early leads.

The U.S. also hinted of early domination — a James flying jam, a Kobe long 3 and a Wade steal and dunk made it 16-11 at the seven-minute mark, and a Wade reverse dunk and a Howard score off a no-look LeBron pass upped the advantage to 24-19.

In both instances, China pulled back, the second time drawing even at 29-all midway in the second quarter.

The Chinese were aided by their 8-of-16 first-half 3-point shooting, while the visitors could managed a paltry 1-of-12 from 3-land — that with a smaller arc for international competition.

The U.S. countered its long-range woes by going 20-of-24 on 2-pointers in the first half, with its defense-transition-break onslaught creating a 49-37 halftime lead and a slow-and-steady 31-point final margin.

Now 1-0 in Group B play, the U.S. plays Tuesday night against Angola, which was whipped Sunday 95-66 by Germany, with Chris Kaman scoring 24 and Dirk Nowitzki 23. The other Group B game had Rudy Fernandez scoring 16 points and the Gasol brothers helping Spain to an 81-66 victory over Greece.

In Group A, J.R. Holden scored 19 points and Andrei Kirilenko 15 as Russia routed Iran 71-49; Linas Kleiza canned a late-game 3-pointer to push Lithuania to a 79-75 triumph over defending Olympic champion Argentina and Manu Ginobili, and Croatia deployed a quintet of double-digit scorers to overwhelm Australia 97-82.

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