Kevin Durant #5 of United States celebrates after defeating China on Day 1 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at Carioca Arena 1 on August 6, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
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Carmelo Anthony just keeps moving up the Team USA record charts.
Red, white and blase for one quarter, the U.S. Olympic team woke up and won easily.
The Americans’ next opponent, Monday’s matchup with Venezuela, doesn’t figure to be much more of a challenge than this.
The Americans were tied at 18-all after one quarter, but stopped turning the ball over and fouling, unleashed their defense and outscored Venezuela 30-8 in the second period. No matter what they thought, though, they performed horribly in their first preliminary round contest.
“Everything’s not going to be easy”, Durant said. Contrast that with the largest lead of 57 for U.S., who held a lead for more than 37 minutes and you know nearly everything you need to about these two teams.
It was similar to the meeting between the teams in Chicago on July 29, when the US shot poorly and still won by 35 on their pre-Rio exhibition tour.
The heavily-favored Americans weren’t really challenged, and had beaten China twice, handedly, in exhibition play. The Aussies, featuring five National Basketball Association players, four of them league champions, improved to 2-0 on Monday with an impressive 95-80 win over Serbia.
Yi Jianlin was the highest scorer for the Chinese Men’s basketball team. They also were the product of significant playing time. “They feel like they can beat us and we understand that”.
With Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony the lone returning Olympians, the USA suited up ten Olympic neophytes, most notably Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.
The Americans made 33 from the stripe, besting a 56-year-old team record of 32.
DeMarcus Cousins was a force inside, scoring 17 points on six-for-eight shooting, while Paul George chipped in 15 points off the bench.
Give us your opinion. Anthony will attempt to bridge the small gap between himself, second-place David Robinson (270 points in three appearances) and first-place LeBron James (273 in three appearances).
“I never even knew that”, Anthony said. “That’s better than making the shot, to be honest with you”. John Cox, a first cousin of Kobe Bryant, paced Venezuela with 19 points. He will become the first three-time gold medalist on the men’s side if the USA wins. Because the United States blew them out so terribly, no one can totally say with certainty what to expect from China.
The score ended at 119 to 62 in favor of the Americans. Venezuela coach Nestor Garcia said with a smile.
“They have a lot of shooters, no?”
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They have a lot of everything.
