Team USA Beats Spain for Gold Medal in Men's Basketball

USA Beats Spain in Gold Medal Game, Men's Basketball

Well most of us saw this coming. Team USA is undefeated coming into this game undefeated.. Duh! Well what about Spain? Marc and Pau Gasol are looking to get revenge and earn their gold medal for Spain. Tonight was a huge Gold Medal game, and players from both teams showed up and played their hearts out. In the end, however, Team USA pulled away in the fourth quarter behind Kobe, LeBron, and LeBron.

In the beginning, Spain kept control and tried to take over the tempo and slow things down. With KD, and Lebron, however that's hard. Team USA was explosive as always in getting to the basket and pushing after every made basket. Chris Paul also did a good job of maintaining the tempo. Obviously both teams started out hot. This got the crowd into it. Especially Juan Carlos Navaro's and 1 three pointer. Durant immediately answered.

The game was filled with smothering defense on the inside. Both teams pushed the ball. Navaro got off to a hot start. Both teams kept scoring. Three after three after three. The game was physical early.

Coming into the 2nd quarter, the Spaniards found themselves down by 8, despite Navaro's 14 point effort. Spain started the quarter on a small run of their own, making up some of the deficit. LeBron finally ended the run with a breathtaking dunk. 

Team USA and Spain both got into some altercations, the game started to get more physical. Marc Gasol got into a lot of trouble with 4 fouls in the first half. This was a huge part of the win for team USA.

Many parts of this game mirrored the Bejing Olympic game. 

Heading into the second half, Navaro lead Spain with 19, and Durant lead USA with 17. The second half was where the USA really needed to attack.  By himself, Pau Gasol went head-to-head with Team USA. The pace really picked up. The Laker teammates went back and forth. They both suddenly exploded. The third quarter really set up the victory. Kevin Durant also went crazy in the 3rd quarter. He had 27 with only 120 left in the 3rd. 

Coming into the fourth quarter, the Spaniards needed to score major. You know that Chris Paul was going to pick it up. He scored 5 quick points. Gasol, an Navaro really picked it up as well. When LeBron picked up his 4th personal, Durant became more aggressive. Kobe Bryant extended the lead to double digits, but Navaro answered right back. 

In the end, the US didnt relinquish their slim lead. They pulled away with 3 minutes left. The dagger came at the 2 minute mark: LeBron James hit a killer three.

Team USA stepped up, and started making their easy shots. The second half was one of the most entertaining halfs I've seen. 

In the end, 

Chris Paul contributed in a big way with 7 points in the 4th

Carmelo finished with only 8

Lebron finished with 19

Durant scored 30

and Kobe, in his last Olympic game, had 17

As for Spain,

Pau Gasol scored 24

Marc Gasol ended up with 16

Juan Carlos Navaro had 21

and Rudy Fernandez finished with 13

In the end, Team USA had too many hot players, high basketball IQ, and experience. It was, as I said before, a hard fought game. 

Posted in: Alan Gordon,Chris Paul,Kevin Durant,Kobe Bryant,LeBron James,Marc Gasol,Pau Gasol,Spain,Team USA