Team USA sets the records tumbling in an 83 point rout of Nigeria – London Olympics Basketball 1st Half Recap
Team USA made history on Thursday night by beating Nigeria 156-73 and setting quite a few records along the way.
Carmelo Anthony had the biggest say by recording 37 points including 10 triples in the game.
In a completely dominating performance, the Americans piled on the pressure right from the get go. After Tyson Chandler won the jump ball to give USA the possession and an opportunity to open their scoring account, the ball found its way into the hands of Kevin Durant. The NBA’s three time scoring champion did not waste any time to get into the act and made the first of the 29 triples, USA had in the game.
On the following possession, the ball was stolen by Chris Paul and found its way to Kobe Bryant who made his way to the free throw line after drawing a foul on Anthony Skinn. The Black Mamba after knocking down two free throws scored the next five points for team USA as well, which was followed by another triple from Durant, ensuring a 13-0 run to start the match for the Americans.
After making a perfect start to the contest, team USA started to ease off the pressure a little bit as they held a 25-10 lead nearly midway. However the Africans were in for more trouble from the American second unit, especially Anthony, who was inserted in to the match at the 3:54 mark of the first quarter.
The New York Knicks star wasted no time to get on a scoring spree and shot his first triple in the game on an assist from Russell Westbrook. While the Americans continued to score at will, the Africans added 5 points, all from Ike Diogu.
By the close of the first quarter the Americans had piled on a huge total of 49 points while holding the Nigerians to only 25 points in total. In merely 4 minutes of game time action, Anthony had scored 12 points all on triples.
Nigeria started the second quarter off by scoring the first five points. On the other hand, it took almost a minute for team USA to start their scoring when Anthony made a deuce on an assist from Deron Williams.
From the 8:36 mark of the second period till the 7:41 mark a scoring drought occurred on both ends of the floor – a rather surprising fact considering the way the Americans had been playing. In that span, team USA missed four field goal attempts and James also committed a turnover.
However everything returned to its usual manner when Durant made a triple at the 7:38 mark and followed it up by making a deuce on a second assist from Bryant. With the momentum right back on their side the Americans continued to add to their advantage.
By the end of the first half, they had combined together to score 78 points while allowing Nigeria to score only 45 points. Anthony and Williams connected from long range to wrap up proceedings before heading into the interval with the highest first score ever in the Olympics history.
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