played great. The offensive rebounding was a key factor. Kevin Love had eight offensive rebounds and our defense picked up. Kobe made a couple big defensive plays that went to the offensive end, and we kind of exploded there,” added Coach K. James finished with 11 points,
14 rebounds and 12 assists for the first triple-double in U.S. Olympic history and just the second ever recorded in the Olympics (since assists were kept as an official statistic in 1976). His 12 assists tied the U.S. Olympic single-game high. Additionally, shooting 19-of-46 from 3-point, the USA tied its U.S. Olympic record of 46 3-point attempts, which it set on Aug. 2 against Nigeria. While the final score was a 35-
point blowout, Australia was down by just 14 points at the start of the fourth quarter. Three of Bryant’s four 3-point- ers came off of assists from James. “I’m proud of the win, that’s all
that matters to me,” James said. “I don’t really care about me statistically. The win is more important; I’m happy to be able to move on.” Rounding out five U.S. players in
double digits were Williams with 18 points and 7-of-7 shooting from the free throw line; 17 points from Anthony; 14 points from Durant; and a 10-point, 11-rebound double-double from Love. “On this team you really get a lot of
easy shots because you play with a lot of really good players,” said Bryant who connected on 6-of-10 3-pointers in the game. “I just found myself in a really good rhythm with some daylight to shoot the ball, and they were going in for me.” Durant opened the game with a
3-pointer and both teams sank two threes in the first two minutes to help bring the score to an 8-8 tie at 8:01. The score again was tied at 10-10 and 12-12 before the USA gained some distance with free throws from James, a fast break bucket from Paul and a three-point play from James that left the USA ahead 19-12 at 4:08. After two scores from Australia, the USA put together another run, this time a 7-0 stretch to grab control 26-16 following bonus free throws from Williams at 1:09. Westbrook sank two more free throws to help counter five
USA Basketball News
Kevin Love was effective and efficient in the paint for the U.S. averaging 11.6 points and a USA team high 7.6 rebounds a game.
points form Australia, and despite not scoring from the field in the last 2:39 of the first quarter, the USA led 28-21. Durant also opened the second
period with a 3-pointer, and the U.S. lead had reached 12 points, 39-27, when Williams connected from deep at 7:32. Australia fought back and closed within eight points several times before Krzyzewski called a timeout at 4:37 with the USA leading 44-36. Anthony sank a 3-pointer out of the break, and the USA outscored Australia 12-6 to take a 56-42 lead into the halftime locker room. Australia once again rallied and
went on an 11-0 run to open the second half and cut the distance to three points, 56-53 after consecutive 3-pointers from Australia’s Joe Ingles. Durant ended the drought with a 3-pointer at 7:56, and with the lead at five points, 63-58 at 6:01, a James’ free throw was followed by consecutive 3-pointers from Bryant, and then a three-point play from James that helped restore a 14-point margin, 72-58, at 4:12. Each team scored 12 more points in the stanza before the third quarter buzzer sounded with the score at 84-70.
Australia trailed 96-80 in the fourth
quarter before Bryant completely put the game out of reach. Knocking in his first 3-pointer of the quarter at 5:50, he followed that up with threes at 5:14, 4:57 and 4:43. Overall, it was the start of a 16-8 run that ended the game with the USA securing a 119-86 win. Australia was whistled for 30
personal fouls in the game, helping the USA to finish 22-of-32 (.689) from the free throw line. The USA also owned a 52-42 advantage on the glass. San Antonio Spurs guard Patty Mills lead Australia with 26 points.
USA 109, Argentina 83 Once again 3-point daggers sent the
USA’s opponent packing. Making 18-of-42 3-pointers, the U.S. finished off Argentina 109-83 to advance to the gold medal game. Leading by seven points at halftime,
Durant sank two 3-pointers in an 8-0 run in the third quarter that gave the USA some breathing room, 59-46, at 6:28, and
USA 119, Australia 86 Aug. 8, 2012
AUS MIN FG FT R A PF PTS
Andersen 24 5-13 1- 2 433 11 Nielsen 20 2- 4 1- 2 103 5 Mills Ingles
31 9-20 4- 6 621 26 40 6- 8 5- 6 863 19
Dellavedova 26 1- 5 0- 0 744 3 Barlow
Worthington 13 1- 4 0- 0 114 2 Baynes Maric
11 2- 3 0- 0 325 5 8 2- 6 0- 0 404 4
2 0- 2 1- 2 200 1
Newley 25 4- 6 1- 3 313 10 Totals 200 32-71 13-21 42 19 30 86
USA
Bryant Paul
MIN FG FT R A PF PTS 20 6-14 2- 2 133 20 27 3- 7 0- 2 130 7
Chandler 9 3- 4 0- 0 202 6 Durant James Love
Harden Davis
25 5-13 0- 0 513 14 30 3- 7 4- 7 14 12 0 11 21 4- 8 2- 4 11 12 10 4 3- 4 0- 0 010 7 3 0- 3 0- 0 301 0
Anthony 20 6-12 3- 4 403 17 Westbrook 11 1- 3 4- 6 014 6 Williams 22 4-10 7- 7 322 18 Iguodala 8 1- 1 0- 0 101 3 Totals 200 39-86 22-32 52 24 21 119
Australia USA
21 21 28 16 28 28 28 35
-- 86 -- 119
3PT FGs- USA (19-46): Bryant 6-10, Durant 4-9, Williams 3-7, Anthony 2-7, Paul 1-4, James 1-3, Harden 1-2, Iguodala 1-1, Love 0-2, Westbrook 0-1; Australia (9-22): Mills 4-9, Ingles 2-4, Dellavedova 1-4, Newley 1-2, Barlow 1-1, Worthington 0-2; TO- USA 10, Australia 18; BLKS- USA 0, Australia 3; STLS- USA 13, Australia 4.
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Garrett Ellwood / NBAE / ImagesGetty
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