The first day of Olympic Basketball 2012 came to an end and there was little in the way of surprises.
Team USA opened their Olympic play with a big win over France, 98-71. Kevin Durant led the attack with a big 22-point game while he and LeBron James each dished out nine assists. The defense was also hard at work as they limited French star Tony Parker to only 10 points.
"They're going to be very, very tough to beat," Parker said after the game.
The next closest competitor in the Olympic Games is Spain, who beat China 97-81. Pau Gasol led Spain with 21 points while Serge Ibaka finished with 17 points and three blocks. While losing, China still watched star Yi Jianlian finish with a fantastic 30-point, 12-rebound performance.
The next opponent for Team USA is Tunisia, who fell to Nigeria, 60-56. Ike Diogu led Nigeria with a double-double, scoring 13 points and 10 rebounds. For Tunisia, Makrem Ben Romdhane scored 12 points with 12 rebounds.
Team USA's next big competition should come from Argentina in the last game of this group-stage. Argentina had a great all-around game by knocking off Lithuania, 102-79. Three different players scored over 20 for Argentina, led by Luis Scola and his 32-point game. Carlos Delfino added 20 points while Manu Ginobili scored 21.
Russia blew out Great Britain with a 95-75 victory, despite two players from Great Britain breaking 20 points in the game. Pops Mensah-Bonsu scored 22 points with nine rebounds while Luol Deng finished with 26 points and seven rebounds. However, Andrei Kirilenko led Russia to the win with a 35 point game.
Finally for the first day of Olympic Basketball 2012, in a close game, Brazil beat Australia, 75-71, behind a double-double by Marcelinho Huertas, scoring 15 points with 10 assists.
Image from Wikimedia Commons.
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