Dream Team II Erases Doubts in 132-77 Rout : Basketball: Impressive 41-18 run in final 9:20 of first half ignites drubbing of China.

HAMILTON, Canada —  Now pursuing a niche as the second-best team of all time, Son of Dream Team chased away its blues, laying a good old-fashioned American whipping on poor China.

The Americans played hard this time, they conceded. Don Nelson played his bench-warmers, Dominique Wilkins and Steve Smith, in the first half and everyone enjoyed Friday night’s 132-77 rout in half-empty Copps Coliseum, except the Chinese.

“We were trying to win by 60 or 70,” Wilkins said. “We discussed it in the locker room before the game. We wanted to bury this team. We were predicting a win by 50.”

What were they predicting before the game against Spain?

“A win by 40 or 50,” said Wilkins, laughing.

China, a textbook pigeon, had the usual problems matching up with the U.S. and was also coming off an overtime victory over Brazil the night before.

The Chinese managed a 2-0 lead on Wu Zheng’s 15-footer but that was as good as it got for them.

“Before the competition, we have already known who the winner will be,” said Chinese Coach Xingquu Jiang, “but we are not so happy because we did not anticipate losing the game by so many points.”

In another of his fits of hyperbole here, Nelson said the Chinese have “the best passing team in the tournament” and devised a game plan to counter it.

Unlike Dream Team Coach Chuck Daly, who changed his lineups nightly, Nelson again trotted out his Game 1 starters--Shaquille O’Neal, Shawn Kemp and three guards--possibly on the theory they were staying in until they got it right.

Once more, Nelson applied the pressure. This time it looked like pressure.

The Chinese turned the ball over 21 times in the first half, including eight times in their first 18 possessions.

The United States outscored the Chinese, 41-18, in the last 9:20 of the half, finishing with a 12-0 run in the last 57 seconds.

Nelson, who had held Wilkins and Smith out until the closing minutes of the opening game and suggested he was going to continue playing it that way, put both in early and gave them as many minutes as his other reserves.

Wilkins made seven of nine shots (all but one layups or dunks) and said he was happy again.

“It was a lot of fun,” he said. “Everybody got a chance to get in the action. That’s all you can ask for. . . . It’s good to get in there early, get in the flow, be a part of things. It was fine.

“I don’t know what you’d call it but everybody here deserves the right to play in these games. That’s the way I look at it.”

With the lead in the high 50s, U.S. players on the bench cheered their teammates’ shots as if they had incentive bonuses riding on the outcome. But the intended 60-point victory slipped away

“Winning by 55 has got to say something,” said Wilkins. “We got the monkey off our back now. We’re ready to do some damage.”

Said Nelson: “We played hard the entire game. I don’t think that was true the first game. We got a big lead and then it was like NBA quote, unquote garbage time.”

Actually, garbage time started Thursday and will run until the finals Aug. 14.

World Basketball Notes

In the late Pool A game, Juan Antonio San Epifanio, 35, who has played for the Spanish national team since he was 17 and is probably the most popular player in the country’s history, scored all of his 18 points in the second half of a 73-67 victory over Brazil. San Epifanio, known as Epi in Spain, played his 225th game with the national team. Only two other players on the current roster have played as many as 100. Spain (1-1) and China (1-1) will play Sunday with the winner advancing to the quarterfinal round. The loss almost definitely keeps Brazil (0-2) from advancing to the quarterfinals unless it can upset the United States on Sunday. . .. . In Pool B, Croatia (2-0) and Australia (2-0) clinched quarterfinal berths, Croatia with a 104-53 thrashing of South Korea (0-2) and Australia with a 93-87 victory over Cuba (0-2). They meet today with only the pool title at stake. Toni Kukoc led Croatia with 12 points on six-for-six shooting, while handing out 10 assists in just 25 minutes. Andrew Gaze had 30 points to lead Australia. . . . In Pool C, Russia (2-0) cruised past Angola, 94-57, while Boston Celtic Rick Fox scored 17 of his 19 points in the second half in unbeaten Canada’s 91-73 victory over Argentina, clinching a spot in the quarterfinal round along with Russia. Argentina (0-2) and Canada were tied 30-30 at halftime before Kory Hallas (31 points), who had 19 after halftime, and Fox took over with a barrage of jumpers and layups to put the game away. . . . In Pool D, Michael Koch had 27 points to lead Germany to an 81-74 victory over Puerto Rico as both teams go to 1-1. Greece remained unbeaten with a 69-53 victory over Egypt (0-2).