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Team USA Men’s Basketball Shines Bright In The Gold Medal Game

After being down two points with three and a half minutes left in the third quarter, Team USA went on a 14 to 3 run to take a ten-point lead over Serbia in the gold medal game and never looked back.

Kevin Durant did a little of everything to lead the way with 30 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals , and a block. DeMarcus Cousins kicked in an impressive double-double going for 13 points and 15 rebounds in only 17 minutes of action. All 12 of Team USA’s players got in the scoring column in the 96-66 victory.

After the game. Carmelo Anthony announced this would be his final game playing for the United States. With the victory, Anthony became the first men’s Olympic basketball player to win three gold medals. Melo has left quite a legacy during his time playing at the international level. The 32-year-old has appeared on four Olympic squads and holds the records for scoring, rebounding, minutes played, games played, and three-pointers made for Team USA. No matter which way you slice it, Carmelo Anthony is the greatest basketball Olympian of all-time.

After providing the United States with a scare in the preliminary round, Serbia just couldn’t get their offense on track as they struggled to score from anywhere on the court. As a team, the Serbs shot 38.2% from the field and a dismal 16.7% from behind the arc. Nemanja Nedovic and Milan Macvan led the way scoring 14 and 11 points respectively.

Bronze Medal Game

In the bronze medal game, Spain eked out a one-point victory over Australia, 89-88. With five seconds left in the game, Sergio Rodriguez knocked down a pair of free throws to lock in Spain’s victory. Pau Gasol was the star for Spain with 31 points and 11 rebounds in 33 minutes of action. Ultimately it was Spain’s ability to protect the ball as they only turned it over seven times throughout the course of the game.

Led by Patty Mills, the Australians fought valiantly only to come up tantalizingly short of their first Olympic medal in basketball. Mills had a team-high 30 points while David Anderson, Ryan Broekhoff, and Brock Motum all chipped in double-digit efforts. Even though the Australians didn’t medal this time around they have a good-looking group of young players that should be ready to contribute by 2020, including 2016 NBA draft #1 overall pick Ben Simmons.

Sterling Thomas

Born in Littleton, Colorado, Sterling moved to the heart of ACC country when he was young and developed a deep passion for basketball.

Fast forward to college where Sterling had the opportunity to work with the Florida Gulf Coast University basketball team under Andy Enfield and was apart of the 15-seed Eagles that made a historic run to the Sweet Sixteen and was dubbed Dunk City.

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