Team USA's Kobe Bryant, left, and Jason Kidd joke on the bench during their FIBA Americas Championship basketball game against Canada on Saturday in Las Vegas. The Americans rolled to a 113-63 victory.

Las Vegas ? The United States couldn’t shake Canada with offense alone. Turning up the defense sure did the trick.

The Americans held the Canadians to just two field goals in a dominant second quarter, pulling away for a 113-63 victory Saturday to remain unbeaten in the FIBA Americas tournament.

Carmelo Anthony scored 25 points, equaling the second-best U.S. total in an Olympic qualifying game, and Michael Redd added 19, including five three-pointers. But the United States didn’t pull away until it tightened its defense after a competitive first quarter.

“I said before the game we had to be ready because the U.S. had been dominating teams in the first quarter,” Canada coach Leo Rautins said. “We did a good job of being close and executing, and then they killed us in the second quarter.”

Kobe Bryant had 15 points, Amare Stoudemire 12 and LeBron James 10 points, eight rebounds and four assists for the Americans, who reached 100 points less than 21â2 minutes into the fourth quarter and are averaging 116 in the tournament – not far off the record 121.2 the Dream Team put up in 1992.

The United States (3-0) closes pool play tonight against fellow unbeaten Brazil, which beat the U.S. Virgin Islands 93-89 later Saturday. The winner of today’s game would earn the top seed from Group B in the second round, which begins Monday.

“The team we played today uses a system, and we had to take them out of it, and Brazil is that same kind of team,” U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “But they also have as complete a player as there is in this tournament in Leandro Barbosa, especially the way they use him. They’re a top-flight team and we respect them.”

Anthony shot 9-of-12 in tying Gary Payton’s 25-point night in the 1999 qualifier. Allen Iverson, Anthony’s Denver teammate, scored a U.S. event-record 28 in ’03. Canada, 2-2, is idle today.