He is a shooting guard capable of scoring points in bunches, and the United States sorely missed him when he couldn't play last summer.

That describes Kobe Bryant -- and also his backup.

Michael Redd also was unavailable for the world championships, and he's spent the first two games of the FIBA Americas tournament showing why his teammates are so glad to have him now.

"He's one of the few guys that I've seen in coaching in over 30 years where guys are just so happy that he is shooting the ball," U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "Everybody on our team, we have great scorers on our team, they're all happy when he shoots the ball."

Redd replaced Bryant early in the first quarter and hit a flurry of 3-pointers to turn the game into a rout, and the United States beat the U.S. Virgin Islands 123-59 on Thursday night.

"He's ready to come in at any time," Krzyzewski said of Redd, who couldn't play in the worlds because he was getting married. "Most shooters need time to find their rhythm. He's ready right away and he knows he's subbing for Kobe. Obviously he's a key guy for us and that's something we did not have last year."

Redd and Carmelo Anthony each scored 22 points for the Americans (2-0), who put together a dominant stretch immediately after Bryant went to the bench with his second foul less than 4 minutes into the game on his 29th birthday.

Mike Miller and Amare Stoudemire added 13 points apiece for the Americans, who shot 15-of-30 from 3-point range and had all 12 players score.

"We have so many weapons, we have so many threats, and it just makes our job that much easier," Bryant said. "You just have to come in and plug in the holes when you're called upon, step in and do your job."

The Americans are off Friday before closing pool play with games Saturday against Canada and Sunday against Brazil.

Kevin Sheppard scored 11 points for the Virgin Islands, whose best player can't play for them. Tim Duncan started playing internationally for the United States in 1996, and once that happened the St. Croix native became ineligible to play for his home team. But he also wouldn't play against them, sitting out the Americans' 113-55 victory while playing for them in the 2003 Olympic qualifying tournament.

The Virgin Islands, with former UCLA and Georgia coach Jim Harrick on their bench as an assistant, also got nine points from Carl Krauser, Kitwana Rhymer and Jason Edwin.

The Americans scored only 21 points in the first quarter of their tournament opener, but needed only 5 minutes to reach that total Thursday.

The Virgin Islands got within 17-9 with 6:15 left in the first quarter when Edwin drew Bryant's second foul while scoring. Redd replaced Bryant and scored 13 points, hitting three 3-pointers, during the Americans' run of 17 straight points that made it 34-9.

"It's a different role coming off the bench, but at the same time I've been here before backing up Ray Allen my first couple of years in the NBA, coming off the bench and expected to score immediately," Redd said. "That was my role five or six years ago, so I had to go back to that, be professional, ready to go."

Miller and Chauncey Billups made 3s later in the quarter, with Billups' shot at the buzzer giving the United States a 42-13 lead. The U.S. was 13-of-17 from the field (76 percent) in the period, including 8-of-10 from behind the arc. Redd had 15 points in 5 minutes.

"Guys like Mike Redd and Mike Miller come in and hit shots like that, it's hard to beat us," guard Deron Williams said.

The lead was 66-39 at halftime, and the third quarter quickly became festive. Fans in another small crowd at the Thomas & Mack Center sang "Happy Birthday" to Bryant while he was shooting free throws, which he said was "a little uncomfortable."

"First time that's ever happened," he said before leaving the arena with his family for a quiet celebration. "But that was fine, I appreciate it."

The Americans had a pair of highlight-reel plays a few minutes later. Kidd threw a pass off the backboard so James could throw down a dunk, and Bryant found Howard with an alley-oop pass for an 80-44 lead.

Krzyzewski also had his team play some zone in the second half, something he has said the Americans would use at some point.

Redd is being counted on to improve the Americans' perimeter shooting, their biggest weakness in recent years, and so far he's delivering. The Milwaukee Bucks guard was 3-of-5 behind the arc and scored 17 points in Wednesday's 112-69 victory over Venezuela, and added four more 3s Thursday.

The announced attendance was 5,554, about 1,000 below the opening night figure. There were perhaps 100 fans in the upper level of the 18,000-seat arena.

Reggie Miller is staying retired, passing on a chance to turn the Big Three of the Boston Celtics into the Fabulous Four.

Miller told the Celtics his decision after having several conversations with Danny Ainge, Boston's executive director of basketball operations, during the past two weeks, team spokesman Jeff Twiss said.

The NBA's career leader in 3-pointers turned 42 on Friday and has spent the last two seasons out of the NBA after retiring from an 18-year pro career, entirely with the Indiana Pacers. He never won an NBA championship, and the overhauled Celtics are considered contenders.

"Danny and Reggie have been pretty much in communication periodically over the last few weeks or so," Twiss said Friday. "Danny informed me that (Miller) will not be coming back or out of retirement.

"I think it's Reggie's news, Reggie's comeback type of thing. But if that's his decision, then I think we certainly respect his decision and appreciate his consideration of even attempting to come back."

Ainge's discussions with Miller surfaced after the Celtics obtained 2004 NBA MVP Kevin Garnett from Minnesota on July 31. They already had traded for shooting guard Ray Allen, a seven-time All-Star, on the day of the NBA draft. Those two join Paul Pierce, who has spent all nine of his NBA seasons with Boston, to make a formidable threesome in the Eastern Conference, which was mediocre last season.

Miller told the Indianapolis Star, in a story published Friday, that he would not return to the NBA with any team.

"Physically, I know I could have done it," he told the newspaper. "But mentally, when you do something like this, you've either got to be all in or all out. And I've decided I'm all out."

Last season, Miller was a television analyst for NBA and WNBA games on the TNT network. He has run a movie production company called Boom Baby Productions since retiring. He's also co-hosted "Live with Regis and Kelly."

"Everything he had to say was in that story," a TNT spokesman said.

On Tuesday, at a charity bowling event in Indianapolis, Miller said, "I don't even know what I'm going to do" about coming out of retirement.

The Pacers retired Miller's No. 31 after a career in which he scored 25,279 points, 13th most in NBA history.

The Celtics viewed Miller as a substitute who could come off the bench to provide offense. They were 24-58 last season and missed the playoffs but are considered serious contenders in the NBA East.

The Celtics have added forward Scot Pollard and guard Eddie House since obtaining Garnett but still lack depth. Their two starters besides Garnett, Allen and Pierce are point guard Rajon Rondo and center Kendrick Perkins, both young and unproven.

After containing Leandro Barbosa, Kobe Bryant still had time to keep up with LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony.

James scored 21 points, Bryant added 20 and harassed Barbosa all over the court, and the United States clinched the top spot in its group by beating Brazil 113-76 Sunday night in the FIBA Americas tournament.

Anthony also had 21 for the Americans (4-0), who for the second straight game pulled away by holding their opponent without a field goal for more than 6 minutes in the second quarter.

"When you see Kobe Bryant diving for loose balls," USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo said, "and you see LeBron and Carmelo giving it the kind of work that they're putting into this, that commitment and passion, that's a message."

The Americans improved to 30-0 in Olympic qualifying games and will open second-round play Monday night against Mexico, the fourth-place finisher in Group A, in a matchup of former coaching rivals: Nolan Richardson beat Mike Krzyzewski for the 1994 NCAA title when Arkansas edged Duke.

Bryant led the defensive effort that held Barbosa to just four points on 1-of-7 shooting before a Thomas & Mack Center crowd that included former UNLV coach Jerry Tarkanian and NBA Hall of Famer Bill Russell. Injured U.S. star Dwyane Wade watched from the bench for the second straight day.

"My role here is different here than it is with the Lakers," Bryant said. "We have so many talented players and I don't have to score a lot of points. I just try to do the best I can defensively."

Barbosa entered averaging a tournament-best 27 points after scoring 36 Saturday in a 93-89 victory over the U.S. Virgin Islands. But the Phoenix guard and NBA's top sixth man never got into this game because of Bryant's early defense, and was on the bench in foul trouble when the Americans broke open the game late in the second quarter.

"I knew that he was going to come up and defense me and guard me like he did and all I was trying to do was get the ball, but I didn't have many balls in my hand," Barbosa said. "But that's OK. It's about tomorrow now, let's forget about this."

James, Bryant and Anthony combined for the first 19 U.S. points in the second half, turning the game into another romp. The Americans came in beating opponents by 52.3 points per game.

Brazil nearly beat the United States last year, losing 90-86 in an exhibition game ahead of the world championships. But Barbosa acknowledged that this is a different U.S. team, one that features nine different players this summer.

And the Brazilians are lacking one of their key players, Cleveland forward Anderson Varejao, who doesn't have an NBA contract for next season and opted not to take the risk of playing.

Still, the Brazilians kept it close until ending the first half without a field goal after Alex Garcia's basket with 6:09 remaining.

Brazil (3-1) settled for second place in Group B and will face either Panama or Puerto Rico on Monday. The teams with the four best records after second-round play advance to the semifinals next Saturday. The winners of those two games earn spots in Beijing.

Brazil trailed only 37-32 with 5:50 remaining in the half before Bryant scored the next three points and James followed with a basket for a 10-point lead. After a Brazil free throw, Bryant and Michael Redd hit 3-pointers in an 8-0 spurt that pushed the U.S. advantage to 50-34 with 2:21 to play.

With the game slipping away, Brazil coach Aluisio Ferreira reinserted Barbosa, but he picked up his third foul with 2:21 remaining in the half after trying to stop Bryant on the break. James threw in a runner from beyond 30 feet as time expired, giving the Americans a 57-38 lead.

"Brazil is one of the best international teams and they had a terrific game plan but our defense in the second and third quarters was at the highest level it's been in this tournament," Krzyzewski said.

The Americans hit their first five shots and raced to a 12-1 lead a little more than 2 minutes in. Brazil fought back to get within four on Tiago Splitter's follow with 29 seconds left, and the U.S. was only leading 27-21 going into the second.

Splitter, drafted by San Antonio, led Brazil with 13 points.

American reserve Tayshaun Prince left the game in the first half after spraining his left ankle while battling for a defensive rebound. Krzyzewski said after the game the Pistons swingman would probably miss a day or two.