LeBron James creates history as USA hammer Australia 119-86 to qualify for the semifinals – Statistical Breakdown
On Wednesday, in the last quarterfinal of the 2012 London Olympics men basketball competition, team USA continued their excellent run of form as they romped past Australia 119-86 in what turned out to be a historic night for LeBron
James. With the win, the Americans have booked a semi-final date against Argentina, the team which they thumped in their last preliminary round game.
James became the first person in Olympic basketball history to record triple double figures in a game. The Miami Heat achieved the feat by putting up 11 points, 12 assists and 14 rebounds. The 12 assists by James equalled the highest
ever dished out in an Olympic game.
Much to the plight of the Aussies, James was not the only player from Team USA who had a good night as the quarterfinal stage marked the return of Kobe Bryant to excellent form as well. After having gone scoreless in the first
two quarters, the Black Mamba had a torrid few minutes at the start of the second half, but then all of sudden; he came to life with a barrage of three pointers to display his brilliance.
Bryant shot the ball 6 of 10 from beyond the arc before finishing the game with 20 points. Kevin Durant added 14 points which included 4 three pointers. Deron Williams had 18, Kevin Love chipped in 10 while Carmelo Anthony sparked
off the bench to finish with 17 points.
The Americans shot the ball 19 of 46 from long range and held an overall 45.3% conversion rate from the field. Team USA also held a 52-42 rebounding advantage over Australia with 20 of them coming on the offensive glass. Team USA
also played immaculate defence throughout the game and forced Australia to commit 18 turnovers in the game, to add to the 13 steals.
For the Australians, the first three quarters could not have gone any better but they were only able to sustain the Americans for so long as they were outscored 35-16 in the final quarter, which led them to conceding this game
by a difference of 33 points.
They had Patrick Mills to lead the scoring charge with 26 points while Joe Ingles and Brad Newley contributed 19 and 10 points respectively. The Aussies converted 45.1 % shots from the floor but despite showing a great will to
fight, just couldn’t match the athleticism and the skills of the Americans.
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