With the United States in danger of losing for the first time since 2006, National Basketball Association stars Carmelo Anthony and Kyrie Irving took command Wednesday to subdue stubborn Australia at the Rio Olympics. He scored another 14 points in the fourth quarter, matching the Aussies shot-for-shot as he and Kyrie Irving helped Team USA escape disaster. However, Irving was much better in the second half, and hit several big shots – including a huge three after Australia cut the lead to four – in the final minutes.
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The Americans, so carefree in their opener that reserves DeMar DeRozan and Jimmy Butler played rock, paper, scissors to determine who would shoot a free throw, realized they were in a fight in this one.
Anthony is now the only player in Team USA history to score at least 30 points in two different Olympic games. But Anthony, who is one of the leading scorers for the 2016 Olympic team, should easily surpass both Robinson and James in either Team USA’s next game against Australia on Wednesday or against Serbia on Friday. The Australians have also been playing some high-quality basketball since the tournament began, which meant that this was going to be a challenge for the Americans from start to finish. The Americans struggled to put away a testy Australian side on Wednesday night and, like any other team in the competition, are prone to have a bad game.
But no other US players had much going, with Durant going 2 for 10 in the first half and Irving 2 for 7. Team USA did a good job of adjusting to the Australians upping the physicality level, and if they can continue to adjust in a positive manner then it probably won’t be a major problem for the Americans. Shooting a combined 68 percent from the field, they also caused a lot of problems for Team USA early, including getting Sacramento King DeMarcus Cousins in foul trouble early.
Carmelo Anthony and Kyrie Irving ensured that the upset wouldn’t come to fruition, but it was still the most vulnerable we’ve seen Team USA in Rio. For a team led by Matthew Dellavedova, Andrew Bogut and Patty Mills, it was an impressive effort and a reminder of how a cohesive group and a good strategy can give a more talented opponent problems. Anthony scored to tie it, hit a 3-pointer to give the USA the lead for good, and then hit two more 3s that pushed it to 83-76. Taurasi had five 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes, equaling her Olympic team record.
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China’s Ding Ning won the women’s Olympic table tennis title on day five, beating her team boss Li Xiaoxia to avenge the bitter defeat she suffered to her compatriot in London 2012. It would take the right set of circumstances against the wrong team for U.S. to walk off the floor as losers.
