US Men Basketball team clinches an Olympic gold yet again; Beat Spain 107-100 – Olympics Men Basketball Recap
The US men basketball team clinched their 2nd consecutive gold medal and 14th overall in Olympic competition when they defeated Spain 107-100 in an exciting gold medal game on Sunday on the concluding day of the London Olympics.
This was the second time in consecutive Olympics that the U.S side was facing Spain in the gold medal game. They won the final back in 2008 at the Beijing Olympics, and produced a repeat performance on Sunday night to take the victory.
After cruising through much of the tournament, the U.S side were faced with a stiff opponent in the form of the Spaniards, who kept the game alive till the final minutes of the fourth period.
Kevin Durant led the U.S side in scoring, finishing with a game high 30 points and 9 rebounds. Durant was 8 of 18 from the field and a near perfect 9 of 10 from the foul line. LeBron James finished with 19 points for the game, while adding 7 rebounds and 4 assists to the team tally.
Kobe Bryant got into the scoring act as well, finishing with 17 points on 50% shooting for the game.
Pau Gasol led the Spanish charge with a team high 24 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists. Gasol had a monster game, going 9 of 17 from the field and 6 of 8 from the foul line. Juan-Carlos Navarro finished with 21 points for the night, while Marc Gasol also chipped in with 17 points, going an impressive 8 of 10 from the field.
Both teams were hot from the field to open the game, with 62 points being scored in the first period alone. Back to back three pointers by Navarro early in the period gave Spain a 12-7 lead. U.S.A replied with 8 straight points, 6 of which came off two three pointers by Kobe Bryant.
A three pointer by Carmelo Anthony then capped off a 7-0 run by team U.S.A, helping them open up a 25-16 lead over the Spaniards. U.S.A closed the first period leading 35-27.
Spain opened the second period with a 7-0 burst that helped them cut the deficit to 35-34 with less than two minutes consumed. A three pointer by Sergio Rodriguez then put the Spaniards on top with a 39-37 lead. Both sides kept fighting for the lead over the course of the next few minutes, and four back to back free throws by Kevin Love gave US a 50-44 lead.
However, each time the US side gained any offensive momentum, the Spaniards came back with a run of their own. They were able to close the first half with a 7-1 burst that saw them reducing the U.S margin once again to 59-58.
Gasol scored the first 13 points for Spain to open the third period and the Europeans were leading by 71-70 with 5:02 left in the game.
USA came back and a three pointer by Durant put the US side ahead, leading 83-80. But, Serge Ibaka managed to go to the foul line in the closing seconds of the third period, and scored two free throws to have Spain trailing by just 82-83 as both teams entered the final period.
Chris Paul got into the scoring act in the fourth period, managing 5 straight points to put the U.S side ahead 90-84 early. A deuce by Bryant later in the period gave the US a 97-87 lead. And when James scored a clutch three pointer to put the US side up 102-93 with 1:59 left in the game, the fate of the match had been sealed. USA held on to take a 107-100 victory in a high scoring game.
Both teams shot well from the field, with Spain going 49.3% and USA going 48.6%. USA was 15 of 37 from the distance, and 24 of 31 from the foul line. Spain relied heavily on short to mid range shooting, going 7 of 19 from three point range. Both teams were quite evenly matches in statistics, with the U.S side scoring on critical points in the final period to pick up the victory.
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