U.S. Men’s Basketball Team Routs Defending Champs
The Olympic Basketball Gymnasium here is the first N.B.A.-style arena in China. From the sounds of the Black Eyed Peas’ “Let’s Get It Started” at tip-off to the scantily clad halftime dancers, it has all the trappings of an N.B.A. showcase.
The United States team showed again Saturday night that it is right at home in Beijing. The gym has been host to a show of basketball gluttony that could be known as Team USA Revival.
He dismissed the question, in the same way his teammates had no answer for the Americans, who forced 28 turnovers, outscored Spain by 32-0 on fast-break points and had eight players score in double figures.
“We showed the rest of the world that we really mean business,” said Chris Paul, who had 14 points, 8 assists, 5 rebounds and 5 steals.
Spain, with a roster filled with N.B.A. players, never saw this coming. The 37-point victory by the United States was the most lopsided in an Olympic tournament in which the undefeated Americans have won their four games by an average of 28 points. While they are not quite partying like it’s 1992, when the original Dream Team won by an average of 43.8 points and Coach Chuck Daly did not call a timeout, the dominance is beginning to look familiar.
The main impetus for the lopsided margin on Saturday was that the United States obliterated the lone weakness that it had shown in this tournament. The Americans hit 7 their first 10 3-point shots on the way to a 12-for-25 effort from behind the arc.
After coming into the game shooting 29 percent on 3-pointers, the Americans showed how scary they can be if they make their shots. Their 119 points would be considered high for an N.B.A. game, which is 48 minutes, eight minutes longer than the international game.
“We know we’re going to defend and get fast-break points,” said LeBron James, who led all scorers with 18 points. “We showed that if we shoot from the outside and can make free throws, it’s going to be tough to beat us.”
Spain tried everything, from pressing the Americans to dropping back into a zone. None of it worked. Spain was 6 of 28 from 3-point range and had only 12 assists on its 28 field goals.
“They were sending a statement, ‘We are for real,’ and they sent it loud and clear,” Gasol, who had 13 points, said of the Americans. “They wanted to show everyone that they are superior and they did.”
The United States and Spain are expected to play again, perhaps in the gold-medal game. The loss means Spain will most likely not be in the same bracket as the United States. If the Americans beat Australia, they will play the winner of what will most likely be a Greece-Argentina matchup.
Although there was a good chance that Spain did not show its entire repertory, it is hard to imagine it playing the Americans close. Felipe Reyes, who is not an N.B.A. player, led Spain with 19 points and 8 rebounds.
It has not been the best tournament for the new Spanish coach, Aíto García Reneses, who has juggled lineups unsuccessfully and made the mind-boggling decision to attempt to press the Americans.
“The spirit was low today, and our players weren’t confident enough,” he said.
“For 40 minutes, we want it to be nonstop movement and chaos,” Paul said. “We want to wreak havoc all over the floor.”
Through four games, it is hard to imagine a situation in which the Americans could have created more chaos. So far, their Olympic revival tour has been nearly perfectly choreographed.
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