The Olympics are underway.
Advertisement
“But we said as a group ‘no, let’s go for gold.’ And then we’ll live with whatever we get after that if we don’t get it”.
Anthony was delayed in attending his postgame news conference, and when he arrived wearing a white United States of America baseball cap adorned with the five Olympic rings, Krzyzewski congratulated the New York Knicks star on his accomplishment.
Anthony scored his 31 on 11-of-21 shooting during Team USA’s 98-88 win over Australia on Wednesday, including hitting 9-of-15 shots from long range.
Kyrie Irving, who Australians like to claim as their own as he was born in Melbourne, was the second-best player for the US with 19 points on 7-of-15 shooting, including a dagger from three down the stretch, similar to Game 7 against the Golden State Warriors.
In the first-half, the Aussies led by as many as eight points before going down as Team USA finished strongly.
Anthony’s Olympic odyssey began with a disappointing performance in Athens, where the Americans staggered to a bronze medal and worldwide embarrassment.
In the past, guards such as Jason Kidd, Deron Williams and Chris Paul have orchestrated the offence for Team USA, and all of them have averaged over 10 assists per game for multiple seasons. He’s the leader on this team and we have a leader like that that’s going to leave it all on the floor, no matter what possession is going on throughout the game.
Kevin Durant capped off the scoring with two free throws, making him the only player other than Irving or Anthony to score in the final period.
Carmelo Anthony is now the top scorer for Team USA in Olympic men’s basketball history. The Australian Boomers led the scoreboards 54-49 after the first half. The Americans led 70-67 after three quarters.
Once things got physical, though, it was anyone’s game.
The Australians, with five National Basketball Association players (four of whom have won National Basketball Association titles), were led by San Antonio Spurs point guard Patty Mills (30 points, including six three-pointers) and Milwaukee Bucks point guard Matthew Dellavedova (11 points and 11 assists). Another big difference was turnovers, as Australia had 16 to USA’s nine. At 5:10, DeMarcus Cousins scored 9 points to give the US a lead of 13 – 4.
Tina Charles, who finished with 15 points, got going in the second quarter to help the USA extend the advantage to 22 at the half.
As pointed out by The Guardian, Australia played a pretty good game and they would have won it if Anthony was not “hot”.
Advertisement
The Boomers will aim to get their campaign back on track when they play China on Saturday morning (Australian time).
