SEOUL, 16 August 2006 — The United States completed a perfect warm-up tour for the World Basketball Championships with a 116-63 hammering of South Korea here yesterday.

LeBron James was at his imperious best, scoring 23 before being rested for the final quarter, as the NBA superstars outclassed the 23rd-ranked Koreans.

After racing to a 62-35 halfway lead, the Cleveland Cavaliers star brought the 12,477 crowd to its feet with an outrageous dunk in the third period.

“We were a little sluggish at first but I was able to pick up my energy level and the guys just followed me and we took care of business,” James told reporters afterward.

“We feel that we played pretty well and our aim is to play better every time we take to the court.”

Team USA had earlier beaten China, Brazil and Lithuania on their Asian tour ahead of the World Championships, which start in Japan.

“We showcased our talents as best we could,” said James. “We’ve had two good games here and it is time to take care of business against Puerto Rico on Saturday in the World Championships.”

Dwyane Wade and Elton Brand also starred for the visitors with 16 points each.

James set the tone with a fine three-pointer to open the scoring. The Americans established control in a lively first quarter that ended 22-13.

They stepped up a gear in the second period and when Wade ran through the Korean defense to slam his team into a 20-point lead, it was a matter of how many they would win by.

It was 62-35 by the halfway point with James responsible for 19.

Even without James, in the final quarter, the Americans managed to add 30 points to the already large total and more importantly, avoided picking up any more injuries.

Guard Gilbert Arenas is already out of the World Championships after picking up a groin strain, meaning that coach Mike Krzyzewski needs to cut just one of his 13 stars for the World Championships.

“I am sorry that Arenas got hurt but we need to get down to 12 — that will be a difficult decision,” said coach Mike Krzyzewski.

The United States start their World Championships campaign against Puerto Rico on Saturday. China, Senegal, Slovenia and Italy are playing in the same group.

Yao Scores Winning Points as China Squeak Past Australia

In Kunshan, China, NBA All-Star center Yao Ming scored the winning points with just 2.7 seconds left yesterday as China squeaked past Australia 63-61 in a warm-up event for the World Basketball Championships.

Yao’s hook shot in the lane sealed the narrowest of victories for China, their first win in three attempts in the six-team Stankovic Cup tournament.

The Houston Rockets star, recovering from a broken foot, finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds on the night in a timely return to form ahead of the World Championships on Saturday.

The win was also the first for the reunited team of Yao and four-year NBA veteran Wang Zhizhi, who scored nine points and had four rebounds in his second game back after a knee injury.

China got off to their best start of the tournament with Yao taking the game inside for seven first-quarter points as the hosts raced to a 23-9 lead at the end of the period.

Australia had trouble with China’s big front line of Yao and fellow seven-footers Wang and Yi Jianlian and the hosts continued to dominate into the third period, opening up a 45-30 lead on three consecutive buckets by Yao.

But the Boomers, led by 20-point Milwaukee Buck center Andrew Bogut, came storming back with 14 straight points over the final seven minutes of the quarter.

By the end of the third period Australia had cut the lead to 48-46, as the crowd in the Kunshan gymnasium sat in stunned silence.

The fourth quarter was a back and forth affair, with both sides exchanging baskets, while committing a bevy of turn-overs.

But Wang scored six points in the final frame while Yao got four points, including the final basket.

China is hoping that the front line of Yao, Wang and Yi, widely seen as China’s next NBA prospect, will take them into the final round of the upcoming world championships and win a medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

But the team has been having problems with the injuries to key players Yao and Wang. Yao was playing in only his third match with the national side ahead of the Japan tournament.