SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- The latest victory for the U.S. Olympic qualifying team came with a soundtrack -- the repeated roar of "Whoa" from the crowd -- that kept them from playing their best.

Several members of the American team put on a dunking exhibition during the pre-game layup line, and the show kept going in the first quarter as the United States defeated Venezuela 98-69 Friday night.

But in winning for the third straight night at the Olympic qualifying tournament, the Americans did it with a mixture of flair and sloppiness -- seeming to lose their focus after opening an early 20-point lead.

"So many times we got caught up in the air instead of trying to make basketball plays," U.S. coach Larry Brown said. "We had it under control early in the first half, then we got carried away a little bit.

"I don't think we played up to our standards."

Venezuela stuck around and pulled within 12 late in the third quarter, but the Americans did enough to keep from being seriously threatened.

The crowd -- especially the people in the $19 seats on the third level -- roared with appreciation during the layup drills as Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady, Richard Jefferson and others pulled off several breathtaking dunks.

There was more of the same early in the game, beginning with a windmill dunk by McGrady off an alley-oop pass from Allen Iverson for an 8-4 lead followed by an underhanded alley-oop pass from Iverson to McGrady for another jam.

A dunk by Elton Brand early in the second quarter got the lead up to 38-18, but the Americans started to make careless mistakes and had trouble executing against Venezuela's steady diet of zone defenses.

The U.S. team finished with 23 turnovers -- eight by Iverson.

"I think I was playing a little too unselfish. Instead of shooting the ball I was trying to dish it to my teammates in transition," Iverson said. "I got all those turnovers trying to do the right thing. But if we win by 30 and I have 100 turnovers, it doesn't matter."

Venezuela shot just 2-for-17 from inside the 3-point line and 8-for-18 from beyond it in the first half and trailed 52-35 at intermission.

The lead shrunk to 12 midway through the third quarter on a drive by Carlos Morris, but Iverson beat everyone downcourt for a layup to start a 9-3 run that ended with a steal and dunk by McGrady for a 76-57 lead.

The fourth quarter was devoid of excitement until Carter hit a 3-pointer, then took a behind-the-back pass from Jason Kidd and turned it into a running hook shot and three-point play for a 91-66 lead.

Carter added two impressive dunks in the final 2½ minutes as the Americans padded their lead.

"The score doesn't indicate how close it was," Brown said. "I don't think it was our best performance."

McGrady led the United States with 16 points, Iverson had 14 and Carter, Mike Bibby and Tim Duncan each added 13.

Victor Diaz had 16 points for Venezuela, which had 13 3-pointers and nine 2-point baskets.

In earlier games, Argentina defeated Canada 94-90 behind 21 points from Luis Scola, 19 from Manu Ginobili and 18 from Andres Nocioni. Steve Nash went 6-for-6 on 3-pointers and had 24 points and 10 assists for Canada.

Also, the Dominican Republic defeated the U.S. Virgin Islands 69-65 and Mexico beat Uruguay 80-68.