The Americans outlasted the upset-minded Aussies 98-88 as Anthony scored a game-high 31 points, 14 of them in the fourth quarter, and Irving sank 12 of his 19 in the last period.
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The first American male basketball player to appear in four Olympics, Anthony also passed LeBron James as the most prolific scorer to ever wear a U.S. jersey.
“It got real”, Paul George said.
Bogut was again a monster on defense. proving tough to get a shot past, he had three blocks but altered many shots. “It was an adjustment for us”. Anthony nailed his fourth three-pointer of the game with 1:11 remaining in the first to reach 276 career points.
Anthony is also a serious matchup challenge when he’s playing the four, which he has done nearly exclusively with the national team.
This sort of thing is nothing new for Dellavedova, who has a reputation for being a dirty player. “He’s special and we don’t get this without him”.
The Final Five as they’ve dubbed themselves leaving no doubt that they are the best in the world with a simply dominant performance in team gymnastics.
Serbia pulled off a 24-point drubbing over the same Venezuelan side that gave the US some early trouble, but fell to Australia by 15, and missed a huge opportunity for third place by falling to France, 76-75. His 31 points leave him as the all-time United States of America scorer at the Games with 293 points, surpassing LeBron James. Then Australia arrived Wednesday, starting five guys who play NBA basketball for a living instead of driving an Uber or baking pizzas.
The belief they can compete with the likes of Kevin Durant, the USA’s all-time leading scorer Carmelo Anthony and Golden State Warriors point-forward Draymond Green.
USA coach Mike Krzyzewski was emotional, confronting Greek referee Christos Christodoulou over a foul call at one stage in the crucial third quarter.
Finally tested, Carmelo Anthony and Kyrie Irving had the answers.
But the darlings of the night belonged to the Team USA women’s gymnastics team.
Anthony scored 14 points in the first quarter, when Australia and the Americans both posted 29 points in total.
“And at the end of the day I was in my zone, I was playing basketball”.
“If you don’t make the shots he made you lose tonight”. They just played lights-out basketball. “The first two games we played we were significantly better than those two, but this is the real world now”.
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A new theory is also being speculated that Ray Allen’s comeback attempt is motivated by Curry envy, as Allen wants to return to extend his 3-point field goal record and assert his shooting supremacy over Curry.
