The paths of Paige Bueckers and Caitlin Clark have crossed for years. Both were top high school recruits, both played against each other in the NCAA, both were selected first overall in their respective WNBA drafts, and both won Rookie of the Year honors. However, they had never played on the same team.

That changed on Friday in Berlin. For the first time in an official FIBA tournament, Clark and Bueckers shared the floor for Team USA, and no one would guess they were rivals if they didn’t know that in advance.

"It's just organic. Like, we know how to play well off of each other. We're both smart basketball players who know how to play. And she just makes the game easy," Bueckers said after sharing the floor for the first time with Clark.

In a dominant 94-61 win over China, Bueckers recorded 14 points off the bench, with many of those buckets arriving directly from Clark’s passes.

"Being able to cut, play off the ball, um, get to my spots, she draws so much defensive attention. So a lot of the defense is worried about her. So it lets her teammates get open, and she has great vision," Bueckers explained the difference Clark made in a game, per a video shared by @eliott_caillot on X.

Clark felt just as energized having so many scoring options around her. Whenever she glanced down the floor, another American scorer was ready to capitalize on her passes.

You know, obviously playing around so many talented players. Obviously our guards are incredible, and our post players too. But anybody I pass the ball to, it feels like they're never going to miss a shot," Clark said.

Clark delivered 11 assists without committing a single turnover while scoring 14 points of her own. It earned her Player of the Game honors of the game.

Beyond Clark and Bueckers: Team USA's defense was equally strong

The Americans held China to just 61 points with relentless ball pressure and crisp rotations to disrupt every possession.

Nine of the 12 players on the U.S. roster were making their senior World Cup debuts, yet they played with the same poise of seasoned veterans.

Breanna Stewart, Napheesa Collier, Aliyah Boston, and Angel Reese completely controlled the glass. They collectively added 24 rebounds to prevent second-chance opportunities.

While China’s 7-foot-3 center, Zhang Ziyu, scored 13 points, the Americans forced nine of those points to come at the free-throw line.

“I’ve never played against a woman of that size. She obviously presented some challenges for us, but you gotta give our post players a lot of credit,” Clark credited the defense for their effort, per the Associated Press.

With the win, the United States extended its World Cup winning streak to 31 consecutive games and will face Italy on Sunday for their next matchup.

Written by

Md Saife Fida