United States 113, Venezuela 69 | Box Score
It seems like we are well into Mens Olympic basketball, even through one or two games of play we can already sort out who’s a serious medal contender and who’s not. This year USA’s “Dream Team”, was already looked at as the heavy favorite, but with an impressive showcase, and a dominating 119-62 win over China in game one of the preliminaries, they have erased any doubts people may have had about them. On the other hand, Venezuela is one of the few teams without an NBA player on their roster, and is looked at as one of the underdogs in Group A, as Venezuela lost their first game to Serbia 86-62. Power forward Gregory Echenique, and the rest of the Venezuela team looked to put up a fight against the powerhouse United States.
The first quarter wouldn’t prove to be the blood bath people might have thought this game would be. Both teams would come out cold, and stumble into a lot of turnovers. Early foul trouble and live ball turnovers, would prove troublesome for the US. With DeMarcus Cousins, Klay Thompson, and Paul George all picking up two early fouls, forcing the US to play everyone but Harrison Barnes on their roster in the first. John Cox would pour in seven points, while Gregory Echenique would post 4pts/4reb/2ast to keep this game tied at 18 going into the second.
Early in the second quarter the US would continue to have problems stringing together good possessions. USA would look sloppy with 9 turnovers, and continue to struggle with how the game was being called, picking up 12 fouls in the process of their cold spell. For how rough the US looked early, Venezuela was only worse. Venezuela was outscored 30-8 in the second, allowing the US to open their lead up to 22 points going into the half. Kevin Durant would finish the first half with 11 points on 3/3 shooting from the field, while Carmelo Anthony would hit two threes late in the second to score 10 points, therby passing Michael Jordan on the US Olympic all time scoring list. John Cox would lead the way for Venezuela at the half with 9 points, but would be relied on to shoot on a ton possessions, finishing 3/10 from the field in the first half.
At halftime, #USA leads #VEN 48-26. Kevin Durant with game-high 11 pts. Carmelo Anthony w/ 10 #Rio2016 pic.twitter.com/Y5GNnagTwx
— NBA.com (@NBAcom) August 8, 2016
The USA would continue their good play in the third quarter, but Venezuela would match their play for most of it. It would be Echenique, who would prove troublesome for the US in the pick and roll. The 300lb Echenique, would finish the quarter with 14 points, and 6 rebounds. As the two teams would score 27-25 for the US in the third, but Venezuela simply didn’t look like they had enough to mount a comeback from their second quarter deficit.
Out of the gate in the fourth, the US extended their lead with their bench unit going on a quick 9-0 run. The offence wouldn’t stop there, eventually outscoring Venezuela by 20 points in the fourth. It was Paul George who was getting it done on both ends, as he would finish the game with a game high 20 points on 6/7 shooting from the field, making three three’s. The player to watch moving forward for Venezuela, was the previously mentioned Echenique. He finished the game with 18 points, and 7 rebounds, on an impressive 6/7 shooting from the field.
Paul George 😳 #usabasketball https://t.co/dPzqpvja1U
— spencer🦕 (@spen______) August 8, 2016
Raptor Update –
In the first half, Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan would only combine to play eight and a half minutes. They would get considerable amount of time in the second half, as the bench unit proved effective in growing the United States lead. Lowry would finish with 5 points, on 1/4 shooting, but would have 5 rebounds and 9 assists, and be instrumental in running the offense. DeRozan would finish the game with 8 points, on 3/5 shooting, he would also add 3 rebounds.
