Both USA teams haves kicked off this tournament by unleashing their superstar power.
Advertisement
The 2016 Rio Olympics is still on-going. He was the only player on the team to crack 20 minutes and shot 10-for-14 from the field, including five three-pointers.
Kevin Durant scored 16 points and Carmelo Anthony 14 for the USA squad, which may have grown a touch overconfident following a 57-point blowout of China in its tournament opener. John Cox, a first cousin of Kobe Bryant, paced Venezuela with 19 points.
Jimmy Butler scored 17 – a lot of them coming in extended garbage time – and DeAndre Jordan added 14 and nine rebounds in the first Olympic matchup between the nations.
The Guardian noted that while the Chinese players were “young and fast and have some intriguing players”, like every team in this summer’s Games, no one is considered as a threat to the mighty Americans to again capture the gold in this edition of the Olympics. Demarcus Cousins also chipped in with 17 points. All told, a 24-4 run blew the game open and the U.S. led 48-26 at the half.
After dismantling China to win their Olympic opener, Team USA Men’s Basketball will be back in action Monday night.
Although this may not be the best made-in-America team as James, Stephen Curry and others chose to skip the first games held in South America for a variety of reasons, the USA squad that came to Brazil appears to be in a class by itself. “We know that, even with this great team”.
Team USA might be on a break for a day before their Monday matchup with Venezuela, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be any Bulls action today. Team USA quickly established order in the second. However, Brazil began to push the pace and play a little more free after that point and they benefitted greatly.
Advertisement
Jordan was a monster down low against Venezuela, taking over in the second quarter as the Americans made their run to blow the game wide open. Warriors forward Draymond Green came off the bench for three points, three assists and four rebounds.
