LeBron James, Kobe Bryant steer USA to a 119-86 romp over Australia – Second Half Breakdown: London Olympics Basketball
On Wednesday night LeBron James made history for team USA by becoming the first man in Olympic Basketball history to record a triple double – 11 points, 12 assists and 14 rebounds - during a game. But, the second half mainly belonged
to the exploits of the Black Mamba.
After having gone scoreless in the first half, Kobe Bryant came alive midway through the second half by making it rain from the long range. The Los Angeles Lakers superstar shot 6 three-pointers to finish the game with 20 points.
Despite a continuous offensive assault, it was not until the final quarter that the game was turned into a riot by the Americans, who eventually claimed victory by a difference of 33 points.
After bringing in a 14 point lead into the second half, the start of the third quarter saw Australia come out with an 11-0 run. Patrick Mills and Joe Ingles managed 5 and 6 points in that spurt respectively. It took the Americans
almost two minutes to open their scoring account when Kevin Durant knocked down a three pointer on an assist from Kobe Bryant.
Both sides remained equally competitive in the third period. Australia for once managed to put some consistent pressure on the US defence and matched them with 28 points in the quarter to stay in contention. A 14 point advantage
however turned out to be a gulf too big for the Aussies and it was about to become even bigger.
The first 2:10 of the fourth quarter followed the same trend as USA scored 6 points while the Australians notched up 5 of their own.
On the next American possession, Kevin Love drilled a deuce which gave the Americans a 17 point lead. Mills responded with a two and after Love split his pair of free throws, the time came when Black Mamba decided to continue with
his fit of brilliance.
From the 5:50 mark till the 4:43 mark, Bryant knocked down back-to-back-to-back-to-back three pointers to take USA’s tally past 100 points in the game. It was followed by a deuce each from Kevin Love and James Harden thus completing
a 16 to nothing burst for the Americans.
The onslaught made the game a mere formality but the Americans even went on to outscore Australia 10-2 in the last 2 minutes and took their tally to 119 points for the game.
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