The leader of this team, Anthony, who is going for his third gold medal, is one of the all-time great Olympic players, and his command of worldwide game was on display.
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Venezuela’s John Cox, a cousin of American superstar Kobe Bryant, scored 19 and Echenique 18. Jimmy Butler had 17 points and Durant had 16.
However, the second quarter was more of what fans have come to expect from the Americans, especially on the defensive end. It was defense from Team USA that was pivotal in providing them the opportunity to open a lead in the second quarter. I never knew I would have boat friends. The aggressiveness picked up on both sides of the court for Team USA in the second but defensively they were studs and held Venezuela to just eight points in the quarter.
But a 30-8 run in the second quarter gave the USA the breathing room it needed and it was smooth sailing after that.
For the Americans, “great basketball” happened after the first three minutes of the second quarter.
The U.S. fought through a turnover-ridden, foul-plagued start and defeated Venezuela 113-69 Monday, setting up a matchup of 2-0 teams when the U.S. plays impressive Australia in group play on Wednesday.
While DeMarcus Cousins will have all night bullying the opposing team’s frontline, Durant will continue to be the uncontested superstar of this U.S. team, thanks to his efficient sniping from the outside. Anthony was joined by DeAndre Jordan in the second quarter rally.
Kevin Durant, DeMarcus Cousins, Carmelo Anthony and the rest of Team USA just sent a statement to the rest of their rivals after scoring a 119-62 win over China on the opening day.
Credit to Venezuela for playing tough in the first 1.5 quarters and keeping it competitive. The contest was a rematch of the 2014 World Championship gold-medal game that the Americans won by 13.
Anthony, who is likely to finish this event as the USA’s all-time leading Olympic scorer, had nine points and seven rebounds.
“Everything’s not going to be easy”, Durant said. Yi Jianlian led the Chinese national team to go 8-0 in the tournament, taking down India, Iran and Philippines. At some point in the later round, they may face a challenge from the likes of Spain, Australia or France. It’s a point guard’s dream.
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There’s a lot of room for error when five players score in double figures and everyone on the roster but Klay Thompson scored. But they got off to a good start in Rio. Nicolas Batum, who plays for the New Orleans Hornets, finished with 7 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists for the French team.
