Andrei Kirilenko and Alexey Shved star as
Russia thrash China 73-54 – London Olympics Men Basketball Recap
The Russian men basketball team continued to impress at the London Olympics with a convincing 73-54 win over China.
The Russian side was led by Andrei Kirilenko and Alexey Shved, who are on their way to the NBA for next season with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Kirilenko added to his 30 plus point game on Sunday with 16 points and 9 rebounds while
going 7 of 12 from the field. Shved had14 points and 6 assists for the night.
Russia dominated the game through the first three quarters, and by the time China were able to find an answer to the Russian offense, it was already too late. China held Russia to 12 points in the final quarter but their lead from
the first three periods was enough to guide the Europeans to an easy victory.
The two teams fought hard for the lead to open the first period, and China matched Russia’s offense for the first few minutes. However, Russia ran away with the lead near the end of the period, owing to an 8-0 run that saw them
extend their lead to 20-10. Fangyu Zhu scored the final basket of the period for China and reduced the deficit to 12-20.
The Russians seemed to have found their rhythm by the time second period started, and went on two major runs in the quarter to gain a comfortable over the Chinese. They first reeled off a 12-4 run to increase their lead to 32-19,
and then went on an 8-0 spurt to further extend the margin to 40-21.
China seemed to be lost on defence as the Russian side scored at will. They outscored China 20-13 in the second period and led 40-25 at the half time break.
Russia then scored 8 consecutive points early in the third period to gain the largest lead of the night thus far at 50-30. The Russian trio of Kirilenko, Shved and Timofey Mozgov ruled supreme on the court, and the Russian side
outscored China 21-14 in the third period alone and extended their lead to 61-39.
By the time the two teams started the final quarter, it was clear who the winner was for the night. China did manage to outscore Russia by three in the final period and temporarily slowed down their offense, but their efforts were
too small in front of the massive lead the Russian team had already built.
The Russians rode on their advantage over the first three quarters to easily cruise to a 73-54 victory.
Jianlian Yi was the only Chinese player to make it to double figure points, as he finished with 16 points and 7 rebounds. The Chinese side as a whole were unable to match the offensive prowess of the Russians, who had three solid
scorers in the line-up.
Russia shot 44.1% from the field as compared to China, who went 37.5% for the night. They also completely dominated the boards, outscoring China 46-29 in rebounds and 19-7 in assists. The win helps Russia top Group B with 4 points.
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