Spain kick start their Olympic campaign by beating China 97-81 - London Olympics Men Basketball Recap
Olympic finalists and silver medallists from four years ago, Spain got off to a great start in London as they went past China 97-81 in the first of many hurdles.
The Spanish contingent was led by Pau Gasol who mustered up a double-double 21 points and 11 rebounds. The big man even managed to convert one of his triples in the game. He was provided equal support by another one of NBA’s big
men among the Spanish line up in form of Serge Ibaka. Ibaka had 3 blocks in the game and also played well for 17 points.
Juan Carlos Navarro provided a helping hand as well with 14 points while Jose Calderon shot the ball 3 of 5 from three point land to finish off with 12 points on the night.
For the Chinese, Yi Jianlian played one of the best games of his career to record 30 points. However his 13 of 19 shooting effort was not enough to keep the Spaniards as bay.
Zhizhi Wang and Jianghua Chen were the two other Chinese players providing back up in the game with 15 and 12 points respectively. They combined to shoot the ball 11 of 21 from the field.
China got off to a good start as they held a 7-3 lead early. However the Spanish quickly made their way back with an 8-4 run to tie the game up at 11 apiece. The remaining time in the opening period saw a tight contest and at the
end of first quarter, Spain held a minor 19-17 lead.
From the 5:33 mark in the second stanza, Spain put together a 10-1 run to prolong their lead into double figures. They remained ahead comfortable by the end of the first half, 53-41.
In the early stages of the third quarter, both sides remained level in every aspect but from the 4:26 mark, China outscored the Spaniards 6-2 to close in a bit. However the Spanish remained calm and ended the third with a 69-60
lead.
The start of fourth quarter saw the Europeans come out with a 9-2 scoring burst thus ensuring their firm grip on the ball game. The end result was never in doubt after that.
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