“Personally I felt we were going to dominate these games that they were going to come easy”, said United States of America guard Paul George.
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Cavaliers star Kyrie Irving had a comparatively quiet game, and struggled struggled to contain France on the perimeter, but still closed out the game for Team USA.
“Today they did not play very well and still won so they are still the favourites”, said 7-foot, 1-inch (2.16) French centre Rudy Gobert, also known as the “Stifle Tower”.
On Sunday, it was another dicy performance for Team USA in Brazil.
“Basketball has gotten better but they’re still the best team in the world”, said France’s Nicolas Batum, who plays for the Charlotte Hornets and is one of four active NBA players on the French team.
The Americans have won seven of the past eight gold medals and are seeking a sixth straight.
France came back from a 16-point second-half deficit to pressure the high-priced collection of American talent in a 100-97 game, each team’s last Olympic group-phase match-up.
Thompson finished as the game’s leading scorer with 30 points, including seven three-pointers. Serbia faces Croatia tomorrow at 6:15 p.m. The Americans are averaging 104 points, just above the 102.4 mark set by the 1996 team that started the run of five gold medals and 46 consecutive Olympic wins.
Durant spoke after Sunday’s victory. But just as this group was headed toward earning the playful title of the Meme Team, the Americans have encountered some genuine adversity in their past two games that – if mistakes aren’t corrected or adjustments not made – could find them on the wrong side of the joke.
Oh hey so it looks like things are getting interesting for the U.S. men’s basketball team.
Rio de Janeiro (AFP) – NBA marksman Klay Thompson shook off his Rio slump to net 30 points but the United States of America laboured again to defeat France as Olympic basketball heads for the knockout rounds.
Both teams’ offenses propelled them most of the day, as France shot 56.2 percent despite going just 5-for-19 from 3-point range, while Team USA shot 55.6 percent from the floor. He hot another 3-pointer to give United States of America another double-digit lead.
Like Australia, France is loaded with National Basketball Association players.
More than a tinge of angst surrounds the USA, but the rest of the field still considers the Americans the favorite to win gold.
Whatever’s going on, the players are beginning to believe that the games may continue to be close the rest of the way. The first reason is not to turn it over and the second one is that, even if you do (make the) effort, they will keep scoring.
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These French have been playing big games for years, winning bronze in the 2014 Basketball World Cup, and after falling short of qualifying for the Olympics when they lost in the semifinals of last summer’s EuroBasket they were hosting, winning a tournament in July to secure their spot. Yet while it was good to see him wreaking havoc alongside another strong perimeter defender in Butler, the starting lineup that then consisted of Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony and DeMarcus Cousins was left a little light on that front.
