Kevin Durant leads U.S past France: Men's basketball
The Associated Press Posted: Jul 29, 2012
The U.S. men's basketball team has won its Olympic opener in London, beating France 98-71 behind 22 points from Kevin Durant.
Kevin Love added 14 and Kobe Bryant had 10 for the Americans, who led by a point after one quarter Sunday but made six 3-pointers in the second on their way to a 52-36 halftime lead.
Durant and Bryant opened the third with 3s, and the reigning gold medalists cruised from there.
Tony Parker had 10 points for France, a medal contender with six NBA players.
Spain 97, China 81
Pau Gasol had 21 points and 11 rebounds to lead Spain to a 97-81 victory over China.
Spain got off to a slow start and held just a two-point lead at the end of the first quarter, 19-17. However, they went on a 7-0 run in the second quarter to give themselves a cushion and were never seriously challenged the rest of the game.
Spain was silver medalist at the Beijing Games four years ago and is the two-time European champion. They are expected to challenge for a gold medal here with their imposing front line of the 7-foot Gasol (Los Angeles Lakers), his 7-1 brother Marc (Memphis Grizzlies) and 6-10 Serge Ibaka (Oklahoma City Thunder) — who finished with 17 points.
Yi Jianlian of the Washington Wizards had a double-double for China, scoring a game-high 30 points and pulling down 12 rebounds.
But China had no answer to the depth of Spain, which had four players score in double digits — Juan Carlos Navarro had scored 14 points and Jose Calderon added 12.
Russia 95, Great Britain 75
Andrei Kirilenko, heading back to the NBA, scored 35 points to help Russia spoil Britain's return to Olympic men's basketball with a 95-75 victory.
Kirilenko, who played last season in Russia after spending 10 seasons with the Utah Jazz, signed a two-year, $20 million contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday. Long a top defender, he showed an expanded offensive game, making 14 of 17 shots.
Alexey Shved, also Minnesota bound, added 16 points and 13 assists for the Russians, who wore down the hosts with their physical defensive pressure.
Luol Deng scored 26 for Britain, making its first appearance in the field since hosting the Olympics in 1948. The Chicago All-Star made the first basket of the game, drawing a huge cheer from the home crowd, and former NBA player Pops Mensah-Bonsu added 22, but the British were 4 of 26 from 3-point range.
Brazil 75, Australia 71
Leandro Barbosa scored 16 points and Brazil held on to beat Australia 75-71.
Brazil had a one-point lead at halftime, but opened the third quarter with a 10-2 run and extend its lead to 11.
Then David Andersen got on a roll and helped Australia get back in the game.
The former NBA forward scored all of his 14 points in the second half and Australia battled back to within two — 73-71 — on Joe Ingles' basket with 29 seconds left.
Brazil let the clock wind down and Australia was called for kick ball — which reset the shot clock. The Australians were then forced to foul Brazil captain Marcelinho Huertas, who hit two free throws to seal the victory with five seconds left.
Patty Mills, re-signed by the San Antonio Spurs earlier this month, finished with a game-high 20 points for Australia.
Nigeria 60, Tunisia 56
Al-Farouq Aminu had 15 points to help Nigeria hold off a second-half rally by Tunisia in the first game of the men's Olympic basketball tournament Sunday with a 60-56 victory.
Nigeria held Tunisia to 15 points in the first half and held a 16-point halftime lead. They led by as many as 19 and seemed in control of the game.
Tunisia, however, began the second half with a 10-2 run and closed the gap to two points late in the game.
But Aminu, who plays for the NBA's New Orleans Hornets, made of one of two free throws to seal the victory with 11 seconds remaining.
Amine Rzig scored 15 of his 18 points in the second-half to lead Tunisia in the Group A game.
It was the Olympic debut for both teams in men's basketball.
Argentina 102, Lithuania 79
Luis Scola scored 32 points, Manu Ginobili flirted with a triple-double to help Argentina get started on its quest for a third straight Olympic men's basketball medal with a 102-79 victory over Lithuania on Sunday night.
Carlos Delfino finished with 20 points for the Argentines in a rematch of their 87-75 victory over Lithuania in the bronze-medal game four years ago in Beijing.
It was an impressive start for the 2004 gold medalists, who have faced questions if they're too old for one more run to the medals podium.
That certainly seemed the case two years ago in the quarterfinals of the World Championship, when Lithuania ran by them in a 104-85 victory.
But Ginobili, who turned 35 Saturday, didn't play in that tournament. He had 21 points, 10 rebounds and six assists Sunday night.
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