Team USA makes Olympics history by beating Nigeria 156-73: Statistical Breakdown
In their third group match of this year’s games, team USA set an all-time Olympic record for most points scored in a game by beating Nigeria 156-73.
At the same time, they also set the record for highest point differential of 83 points ever since their 72 point drubbing of Thailand back in 1956.
The Americans connected on 29 three pointers in the game to achieve victory by such an ample margin and set a US Olympic record for most triples made.
In the game, team USA had six players crossing the double figure mark but none shined as bright as Carmelo Anthony. The New York Knicks star forward was hot from the long range. He managed his way to 37 points in the game - the highest number of points individually scored by any American player in the history of the prestigious games. The previous highest was 31 points, scored by Stephon Marbury in 2004 against Spain.
The Knicks talisman achieved this total in just 14:29 minutes of game time action with most of his point coming from beyond the arc. He shot an incredible 10 of 12 from long range.
Had Anthony played more minutes, with the form he was in, Nigeria would have been in for a greater thrashing.
While Anthony made his way into the record books, the remaining American roster continued to play their roles to perfection. Russell Westbrook who like Anthony played around for 14 minutes made his way to 21 points by shooting the ball 7 of 8 from the field.
Kobe Bryant only featured for 11 minutes in the contest but did manage to score in double-figures by chipping in 16 points. Kevin Love was not far behind with 15 points of his own while Kevin Durant recorded 14 points and Deron Williams notched up a double-double of 13 points and 11 assists.
But these were not the only records, American set on the night. They also set records in most field goals made and the highest conversion rate of 71 percent while also setting a record of 41 assists in the game.
Such was the magnitude of the performance put up by the Americans that in comparison to all the other remaining games taking place on the same day combined; USA had the highest point differential at 83 points.
On the night when Spain barely managed to squeak past a lowly Great Britain side, the emphatic American performance has put aside all doubts as to who is hot favourite for the gold.
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