The USA's Rudy Gay soars to the basket during the Global Community Cup basketball exhibition game between France and the USA at Madison Square Garden in New York. (AFP)

NEW YORK (AFP) – Rudy Gay scored 19 points and Chauncey Billups added 17 to spark the United States past France, 86-55, on Sunday in an exhibition game for both teams ahead of the World Basketball Championships.

Gay sank 7-of-12 from the field while 13-year NBA veteran Billups, a leader on a young US lineup as well as captain for the NBA's Denver Nuggets, went 5-of-9 from the field and 3-of-6 from 3-point range in 15 minutes on the court.

The Americans led 39-30 at half-time, went 10-of-16 from the field in the third quarter to boost their edge to 64-46 and stretched the margin even more until the final whistle.

The US team departs Monday for Madrid and a four-day training camp that starts Tuesday ahead of exhibition games against Lithuania, Spain and Greece before they open the world tournament in Turkey against Croatia on August 28.

Kevin Durant added 14 points and eight rebounds for the US squad, which pulled away thanks to a 16-4 run early in the third quarter. Billups sank two 3-pointers and made a 3-point play in the pivotal span.

Boris Diaw scored 15 points and Nicolas Batum added 11 for France, which had support from the stands from French NBA star Tony Parker, his actress-wife Eva Longoria Parker and recent New York Knicks acquisition Ronny Turiaf of France.

Americans have not won the world crown since 1994 at Toronto, sending a non-NBA squad to Greece in 1998 due to a labor dispute and stumbling on home soil at Indianapolis in 2002 in the first losses by NBA talent on a global stage ahead of a bronze-medal showing at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Those humiliations led to a revamping of the US national team program ahead of the 2008 worlds in Japan, where the Americans lost to Greece in a semi-final and settled for third before reclaiming Olympic gold in 2008 at Beijing.

McGee, Green trimmed off world roster
NEW YORK (AFP) – Washington center JaVale McGee and Oklahoma City forward Jeff Green were trimmed from the US roster of NBA talent for the World Basketball Championships on Sunday, USA Basketball announced.

Neither player took part in a scrimmage against China on Saturday ahead of an exhibition game Sunday against France at New York's Madison Square Garden.

Cutting McGee, who had been bounced off the team once before but brought back for workouts, leaves the American squad for the world championships with 13 players but only one center, Tyson Chandler of Dallas.

"The decision made was predicated on having less players to work with and play during the upcoming exhibition games which will help in terms of our final preparations," USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo said.

"Rather than bring 14 or 15 players we will for now go with 13 because we have yet to make a final determination on 12."

The Americans must cut one more player from the lineup by the eve of the August 28 start of the world championships in Turkey. They will leave Monday for a four-day training camp in Madrid that starts Tuesday.

The US team, relying heavily on quickness and backcourt talent with only one big man, will play Lithuania next Saturday and Spain next Sunday at Madrid and face Greece at Athens on August 25 ahead of the worlds.

Joining Chandler among the final 13 were Denver's Chauncey Billups, Rudy Gay of Memphis, Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, Boston's Rajon Rondo, Minnesota's Kevin Love, Chicago's Derrick Rose, Indiana's Danny Granger, Golden State's Stephen Curry,  Philadelphia's Andre Iguodala, Eric Gordon of the Los Angeles Clippers and Lamar Odom of the Los Angeles Lakers.