While Anthony and James
earned a second gold medal in a third Olympic appearance; three more were members of the gold-medal winning team in 2008, including Bryant, Paul and Williams. Playing in their first Olympics were Chandler, Davis, Durant, Harden, Iguodala, Love and Westbrook.
“It was very emotional,”
Bryant said of his 2012 gold medal. “You just kind of think back on the journey, so to speak. Being here for your last go-round, wearing USA on your chest, it’s very emotional.”
Bryant found Chandler for the
game’s first score, however, Juan- Carlos Navarro sank his first of three 3-pointers in the first 3:15 of the game to give his side a 12-7 lead at 6:45. The USA put together eight quick points, including two 3-pointers from Bryant, to lead 15-12. After two threes from Anthony, the American advantage had stretched to nine points, 25-16 at 3:52. While the USA put up 10 points over the last 3:09, Spain added 11 points, including nine from the free throw line, and the U.S. led 35-27 at the first break.
With a 12-2 run to start the
second period, Spain quickly erased the deficit and took a 39-37 lead with a 3-pointer from Sergio Rodriguez at 7:25. The lead changed hands four times before Krzyzewski called a timeout at 6:24 with the USA trailing 44-43. The pause in action seemed to work for the USA, which jumped ahead by six points, 50-44, after a 3-pointer from Durant and four straight free throws from Love that were earned by his work on the defen- sive boards. Both infractions were whistled on Spain’s Marc Gasol, and he went to the bench with four fouls at 5:29 and was limited just 17 minutes overall.
Navarro ended the U.S. scoring
streak after he collected a long rebound and connected from deep at 4:41 to bring the score to 50-47. The three was the start of a 14-9 Spain run that was helped along due to five fouls called on the USA that lead to nine made free throws for Spain. The last two Spanish free throws came with just 3.1 seconds
32
more 3-pointers, Spain managed 10 points to head into the final stanza trailing by just one point, 83-82.
After a score from each team
to start the fourth, Paul hit a three and drove in for two points to put the USA up 90-84 at 8:46. The six-point spread remained when Fernandez tipped in a rebound at 3:41, and Krzyzewski called a timeout at 3:20 after two U.S. turnovers. James slammed home an emphatic dunk, nailed a 3- pointer and then Paul scored a layup as the shot clock expired to counter a score from Spain, and the USA owned a 104-93 lead, its largest of the game, with 49 ticks remaining. “I don’t think worried is the
Kobe Bryant’s impact on the U.S. team was unquestionable in 2012 just as it was in 2008. Bryant averaged 12.1 points in the 2012 London Games, and scored 17 crucial points in the gold medal victory over Spain.
remaining, and the teams headed to the halftime locker room with the USA lead- ing 59-58.
“We knew it wasn’t going to be
easy,” James said. “We know Spain is a great team; they match up well with us, and we match up well with them. A lot of our games were the same in ‘08. We played them in that final and they gave us a great run. They tested us more than any team. We felt like that was going to happen again tonight. This is a great team and they wanted redemption. We are just happy that we were able to make enough plays, get enough defensive stops and come through for our team.”
As the U.S. lead reached four points
twice in the first 1:30 of the third quar- ter, Pau Gasol compiled 13 points on his own to put Spain ahead 71-70 with a three-point play at 5:02.
Bryant and Durant led the USA back
on top 77-72 at 3:34, but once again Spain responded. While Durant sank two
right word,” Paul said of the close score late in the game. “I think we were prepared, and big thanks to Lithuania for that tough game that they gave us. At halftime before we ran out, what we talked about amongst ourselves was the reason we had been so successful is because of our defense; it wasn’t because of the flurry of threes that we would make from game to game. It was because of our defense. As you saw late in the
game, that’s where we really broke away, we got stops, we got in transition and when you’ve got guys like Melo, KD, and Kobe trailing the play, that’s the way we can find those open shots.” With the outcome secured and less
than one minute remaining, Krzyzewski subbed out Durant, James, Bryant, Love and Paul to cheers from the crowd, and the celebration began on the sideline. Spain did not quit fighting, but came
no closer than six points, 106-100, at 13.5 seconds. A free throw from Harden at 12.1 seconds brought the game to its 107-100 final score. Pau Gasol led his side with 24
points and seven assists, and Navarro scored 21 points. “For us to persevere the way we did,
it’s a just a special moment for myself, for the guys that were on this team, for all the work that we put in and the commitment that we made to get where we are at right now,” Anthony said.
USA Basketball News
Garrett Ellwood /NBAE/Getty Images
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