Carmelo Anthony and Team USA Set Records in Third Victory
With a team full of NBA All-stars, everybody knew it was only a matter of time until Team USA began to dominate Olympic Basketball.
However, following a 110-63 victory against Tunishia, arguably the worst team in Olympic Basketball, not many people would’ve expected Team USA to set Olympic records against Nigeria. Team USA defeated Nigeria 156-73.
The Americans led by 26 points at the end of the first quarter and then broke an Olympic-record with 78 points in the first half. They reached 100 points with five minutes left in the third and then broke the previous Olympic record of 138 points set by Brazil against Egypt in 1988 with 4:37 left in the game.
As a team, they also set U.S. records with 29 three-pointers, 59 field goals and a field goal percentage of 71.1-percent. Nigeria was just outplayed as Team USA defeated them in rebounds 35-30, assists 41-15, steals 12-2 and the turnover battle 7-24. The key statistic was that Team USA made 29 of 46 three-pointers, at an incredible 63-percent conversion rate.
Individually, the New York Knicks’ Carmelo Anthony broke Stephon Marbury’s previous U.S. record of 31 points in a game in less than three quarters as he finished with 37 points before sitting on the bench for the entire fourth quarter. He saw just 14 minutes of playing time, but that was all he needed as he made 10 of his 12 three-pointers.
“It’s a great accomplishment to get that record,” said Anthony. “We did it in a very highly classy way. We went out there and we played basketball. We made shots. We make shots like that and play the way we played tonight, that record could have came on any team.”
Six players on Team USA finished in double digits. Anthony had 37, Russell Westbrook with 21, Kobe Bryant with 16, Kevin Love with 15, Kevin Durant with 14 and Deron Williams who had a double-double with 13 points and 11 assists.
Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski gave his team the day off prior to this game and might want to consider giving his team another day off following this performance. Team USA (3-0) will play their next game against Lithuania (1-2) on Saturday August 4 at 9:30 a.m. ET on NBC.
Buy New York Knicks Tickets | Buy New York Knicks ApparelCheck out what others are saying about this post...
-
[...] to reports out of London. The New York Daily News reported that Prigioni is expected to be …Carmelo Anthony and Team USA Set Records in Third VictoryRant SportsCarmelo Anthony's Olympic AdventureNBC New YorkTeam USA "Very Melo" In Win [...]
Leave a Rant
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!
One Rant to “Carmelo Anthony and Team USA Set Records in Third ...”