Schedule and Venue: 6:00 p.m US EST at Carioca Arena in Olympic Park, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
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“It’s not easy, I know that the scoreboards make it look like it is, but these games are not easy”, said Sue Bird, the 35-year-old American point guard and three-time gold medalist.
Only Durant and Carmelo Anthony returned from that team, but the new guys were plenty ready for their Olympic moment.
“We regard it as a learning process when we face U.S.”, said China coach Gong Luming after Thursday’s practice session.
“I think there’s a level of comfort now that you can tell that we have from our first game to our last warmup game”, Maya Moore said.
Forwards Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony – the only two holdovers from the 2012 London Olympics gold-medal team – led the way.
As the players were announced, there were some familiar faces missing, with LeBron James, Steph Curry and Chris Paul opting not to play. But coach Mike Krzyzewski said this squad has already bonded as much as any of the three US teams he has led in the Olympics.
“We’ve got another batch of guys that’s walking around on the streets saying they want to win a gold medal and we all have something in common”, Durant said.
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.
Carmelo Anthony is the first U.S. men’s basketball player to play in 4 Summer Olympics.
The last time the US men’s basketball team failed to win gold at the Olympics was in Athens in 2004, and that was the only time.
Despite absences from NBA “megastars” LeBron James and Stephen Curry, who have chose to sit out the 2016 Rio Olympics to rest and prepare for the 2016 NBA season, there is no doubt the U.S. men’s basketball team is a powerhouse. The Americans had five players to come up with 2 steals each.
The Americans open on Saturday against China, a team they beat by 49 and 50 points in exhibition play. Of their 38 made field goals, 31 were assisted. DeMarcus Cousins quickly added two free throws of his own to tie the score at two.
Durant scored eight points in the first quarter and Carmelo Anthony added eight as the United States of America jumped out to a 30-10 lead after the first quarter, capped by Jimmy Butler’s fast break reverse layin at the buzzer. Cousins also played fewer minutes in this specific game, though that will not be a trend moving forward assuming Boogie can stay healthy.
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Outside of Olympic competition, the U.S.is on a 68-game unbeaten run (45 straight wins in FIBA and FIBA Americas competitions, and 23 consecutive wins in exhibition games) that goes back to 2006.
