Two years after the humiliating home defeat, Brazil faces Germany’s under-23 team with a chance to win the soccer gold medal for the first time. When Kyle Lowry made a layup with 7:22 to play in the fourth quarter, he put the USA up 72-57, its biggest lead and one that was comfortable enough to fend off Spain for the remainder of the game. He is going to be a handful for the US on Sunday, Teodosic gave them fits in group play. “We’re ready for the gold-medal game”. Will Spain shock the Americans or will the Dream Team dunk their way to the finals?
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“This is where we wanted to be”, Kevin Durant said.
Kevin Durant with 14 points and Kyrie Irving with 13 were also in double digits for the Americans. We ain’t got that call all tournament, and in a close game, they called it.
In Jordan’s two starts, the Americans have allowed 78 and 76 points after allowing 91 and 97 in their two games before that.
RIO DE JANEIRO – A weightlifter from Kyrgyzstan became the first athlete at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics to be stripped of a medal after failing a drug test, while a Chinese swimmer and Brazilian cyclist were also disqualified Thursday and a Moldovan canoeist was suspended and could lose his bronze medal.
Lindsay Whalen, a 32-year-old veteran, is the only other true point guard on the USA roster. She missed the semifinal win over France as she was recovering from a sprained right knee capsule. Still, the US isn’t taking anything for granted.
“When Sue’s out, you forget how much she does for this team”, she said. The summary of his shooting performances over seven games in Rio goes something like this: horrible, horrible, horrible, horrible, excellent, horrible, excellent. It’s your body. You don’t want to put it in danger.
Spain answered with a 16-9 run, Sergio Fernandez scoring five to lead the spurt, but Thompson added a 3-pointer to boost the USA lead entering the third quarter. But the rest of the American contingent that has been around for all the matchups with the Spanish never believed the talk that Spain, even with Gasol, Calderon and five-time Olympian Juan Carlos Navarro nearing the end of their brilliant careers, was too old for another run.
Dressed in a blue sweatsuit, Bird was anxious on the bench. “It was a very hard game. I think today and the last two games we were really good”. So it was hard. Whoever wins Friday afternoon will be the first two-time Olympic gold medalists in the event.
DeAndre Jordan came up big on both ends of the floor for the Americans. As the starters were about to take the court for the start of the second half, Bird huddled them up could be seen offering words of encouragement and instructions. The national team twice led by 13 in the fourth quarter, only to have to Spaniards rally both times to keep the game competitive. Those shots gave Taurasi a record 28 3-pointers in the Olympics – the most ever in the tournament.
Another major presence: DeAndre Jordan.
It was only the second time in Rio that the US didn’t reach 100 points in a game.
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It was the USA’s 52nd consecutive victory in a major global event and 24th consecutive Olympic victory. United States of America and Spain traded threes in the final two minutes.
