INDIANAPOLIS -- For much of the first half, the sight on the scoreboard was shocking. The U.S. team was losing, and the score wasn't even close.

	Paul Pierce led the Americans with 19 points.

China nearly became the first team to hold a halftime lead against the United States since NBA players began competing internationally in 1992, but the U.S. team recovered from its poor start to win 84-65 Saturday night at the World Championships.

"I was not surprised, because when a strong team is playing a weak team they usually are very relaxed,'' China coach Wang Fei said.

Relaxed might not be the correct word.

To hear U.S. coach George Karl describe it, his team was "startled'' before it turned up its defensive intensity and held China to 13 points in the third quarter and 10 in the fourth.

China held a 28-16 lead after one quarter and remained ahead until the final 6.5 seconds of the second quarter.

The U.S. team took the lead for good with about four minutes left in the third quarter but didn't close out the lightly regarded Chinese until Jermaine O'Neal scored inside with about 6½ minutes left for a 69-58 lead.

Teams from around the world have been encroaching over the past few years on the American dominance in the sport, and Saturday night's game was yet another example of how foreign teams have closed the gap.

Chinese teams had never come close to competing with the United States in the past decade. The U.S team defeated China by 63 at the 1996 Olympics and by 55 at the 1994 World Championships.

Just two years ago at the Sydney Olympics, the Chinese team lost by 47 points.

That defeat was so lopsided that Chinese center Yao Ming said it "may not be in our generation or the next'' before China can defeat the United States in a premiere level men's basketball tournament.

For a while Saturday night, it looked as though his prediction might be off by about 80 or so years.

Yao pumped his fist in glee after hitting a 3-point shot to give China a 10-4 lead early in the first quarter, and the crowd gasped in astonishment as the Americans fell further behind as the quarter progressed.

China used backdoor cuts and timely jumpers to open a 28-16 lead at the end of the first quarter.

"They made (five) 3s in the first quarter, and the 3 is a powerful weapon,'' Karl said. "Because of that we got startled a little bit, but it got us to play the type of intense pressure defense we needed to play.''

The U.S. chipped away at its deficit, and Michael Finley hit a 3-pointer with 18 seconds left in the half to cut China's lead to 42-41.

Finley then came up with a steal that led to his pair of go-ahead free throws with 6.5 seconds left before halftime as the U.S. team took a 43-42 lead -- its first of the game.

Since the 1992 Olympics, the United States is 56-0 in international competitions when using teams of NBA players.

U.S. teams have never trailed at halftime, but this was the second time in as many nights that they led by only a single point at the break. On Friday night, the U.S. team was unable to shake Germany until the final quarter.

"We tried to come out with intensity and it was our third game in three days,'' U.S. guard Andre Miller said. "They came out fast themselves and hit some big shots early. For us to give up 28 points in the first quarter, that's pretty bad.

"I think we can get better,'' Miller said. "We're going to get every team's best shot.''

Shawn Marion had six points in a 13-0 run bridging the third and fourth quarters that turned a 55-54 deficit into a 67-55 lead.

A 3-pointer by Menk Bateer of the Denver Nuggets, who led China with 19 points, made it 71-61 before the U.S. team pulled away for the final time.

Paul Pierce led the Americans with 19 points. Marion added 15 and Finley had 14.

Yao, plagued by foul trouble, finished with 10 points, six rebounds and three assists. China committed 22 turnovers.