Jayson Tatum came to the 2024 Paris Olympics on an emotional high. He had just won his first NBA championship and the Boston Celtics rewarded their 26-year-old superstar with a supermax contract worth $315 million over five years. But when Tatum left Paris, he was feeling low despite winning his second Olympic gold medal.

Tatum played just 71 total minutes for Team USA, got two DNPs and appeared in just four games. USA Basketball head coach Steve Kerr benched Tatum in the Olympic opener against Serbia, and benched him again in the semifinals of the knockout round against the same Serbian squad.

The first game against Serbia was a blowout, but the same matchup was a nail-biter as Team USA needed ever bit of Steph Curry’s magical 36-point performance to advance to the gold medal game against host nation France.

Tatum did see some action against France, making one of three shots from the field and grabbing three rebounds in 11 minutes. Majority of Tatum’s minutes came in the first half as he rode the bench for much of the second half as Kerr rode Curry, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Anthony Davis down the stretch.

Tatum finished the Olympics with averages he probably hasn’t seen since his AAU days. During the 2023-24 NBA season, Tatum averaged 26.9 points and 8.1 rebounds while earning All-NBA first team honors. During the Paris Olympics, Tatum averaged 5.3 points and 5.3 rebounds while shooting 38.1% from the field. He played fewer minutes than both of his Celtics teammates Jrue Holiday and Derrick White. Holiday, who started five of the six games, played 94 minutes while White played 79 minutes.

Despite winning gold, Tatum left Paris feeling empty. He told the Boston Globe that the Olympic experience was “challenging and humbling” at the same time, and he wouldn’t commit to playing for Team USA when the topic of the L.A. Olympics in 2028 came up.

“You feel like you deserve to play and the competitor in you wants to play,” Tatum told The Globe. “And [Steve Kerr] is the coach for a reason. He makes those decisions.”

Tatum tried to diffuse the situation by not making it about him. But his lack of playing time was one of the main storylines for Team USA. It was hard to ignore, and the narrative could spill into the 2024-25 season — especially when the Celtics play Kerr’s Golden State Warriors.

“I sacrificed and put a lot into this game and worked really, really hard,” Tatum said. “In the moment it is tough, so I’m not necessarily worried about fueling me for [for the season].”

Kerr absorbed much of the heat for the Tatum sideshow. His explanation was simple. It was a math problem. “It’s just hard to play 11 people, even in an NBA game,” Kerr told reporters.

To be fair, Kerr is absolute right. It’s uncommon to play 11 or 12 players in a 48-minute NBA game, yet alone a 40-minute FIBA-style competition. In the playoffs, rotations tighten even more to about seven or eight guys.

Kerr was dealt a bad hand by USA Basketball managing director Grant Hill, who was mainly responsible for constructing the 12-man squad. Hill used an old-style approach by loading the roster with a boatload of NBA All-Stars with the hope of overwhelming the competition instead of building on the team that competed in the 2023 FIBA World Cup. Hill completely moved away from the highly successful “program” approach implemented by former USA Basketball head coach Mike Krzyzewski and former USAB head Jerry Colangelo.

As good as the U.S. roster was for the 2024 Summer Games — and it was pretty darn good with four MVPs wearing the Red, White and Blue — it was terribly flawed. There was too much duplication and not enough defined roles and floor balance. Outside of sharpshooters Curry and Booker, who were the only true floor spaces, the squad Hill created had too many iso-centric players more comfortable in one-on-one settings. LeBron and KD needed the ball in their hands to be effective, which in turn limited the touches for ball-dominant guys like Tatum, Anthony Edwards, Joel Embiid, and Tyrese Haliburton.

Despite the poorly constructed roster, Team USA escaped with the gold medal thanks to Curry’s heroics. Steph’s nine 3-pointers was the catalyst in the 17-point comeback against Serbia in the semifinals and his flurry of 3-pointers — four in the last three minutes to be exact — during crunch time against France sealed the gold medal.

Kerr won’t be around to coach the U.S. men’s national team for the next FIBA World Cup or the L.A. Olympics in 2028, but Hill will likely be the decision-maker again when it’s time to build a roster. Hopefully, Hill learned from his mistakes and bring back the program approach his former mentor Coach K and Colangelo flawlessly executed to avoid another Jayson Tatum situation.

Kevin Durant led Team USA to a gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics. (Getty Images)

If there were any doubts that Kevin Durant was back near the top of list of best basketball players in the world, they were all extinguished during the 2021 NBA playoffs and the 2021 Summer Games in Tokyo.

Durant was nothing short of spectacular during the men’s basketball tournament at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The baller known as the Slim Reaper put USA Basketball on his back, leading Team USA to an 87-82 victory over France in the gold-medal game.

It was Team USA’s fourth straight Olympic gold medal and its 16th gold medal in 19 Olympics. Durant joined Carmelo Anthony as the only three-time gold medalists in Olympic basketball history. Durant also became USA Basketball’s all-time leading scorer, passing Anthony. It could be argued that Durant is the best player to ever wear the Red, White, and Blue.

Throughout the Olympic tournament, Durant was the one constant positive force on a squad that was put together in a month. Head coach Gregg Popovich didn’t have his full complement of players up until the first game against France on July 25. Jrue Holiday, Khris Middleton, and Devin Booker flew into Tokyo just a couple of days after finishing a brutal six-game series in the NBA Finals. They barely had time to get to know their Olympic teammates, yet alone figure out Popovich’s game plan.

The Olympics started off on a bad note for the Americans, losing to France in the opener 83-76. It was the first loss by an American squad in the Olympics since 2004. The team went unbeaten under coach Mike Krzyzewski in 2008, 2012, and 2016 on their way to three straight golds.

“There are more great players all over the world. That’s pretty obvious,” Popovich said prior to the start of the Tokyo Games. “There are more and more foreign players in the NBA. Every year they go back and play for their home countries as they should. It makes the competition even greater. Makes it more challenging for everybody, including us. But that’s a wonderful thing. Obviously the international has grown, and people love it.”

Popovich added, “When you have an opportunity like this, you respect the people you’re playing and you play as hard and as well as you can. But there’s no doubting that are more and more great players every single year around the globe.”

Despite Team USA’s lack of size and lack of cohesion, Popovich had one ace card he could always pull out whenever he needed. The ace card wore No. 7 in red, white, and blue colors.

Durant was absolutely brilliant. He cruised through pool play, allowing the other guys like Jayson Tatum, Damian Lillard, and Zach LaVine to get their shine. But once the knockout round began, KD put on the Captain America suit and saved the day — saved the entire USA Basketball program, actually. Anything less than a gold medal would have been considered a monumental disappointment and major setback for the USA Basketball program, which enjoyed a remarkable 12-year run under Coach K but endured a few stumbles under Popovich.

The U.S. failed to medal in the 2019 FIBA World Cup, and dropped two exhibition games heading into Tokyo.

“We went through some real adversity. We lost a game in the tournament. We lost two exhibition games. We had some unusual circumstances with COVID, guys playing in The Finals and coming in late. We just fought through everything,” Durant told NBC’s Maria Taylor after the U.S. completed the tournament with a 7-1 record.

“Two and half weeks again from our families. We’re basically in a bubble,” Durant said. “It was definitely different. I’m glad we finished the job.”

Whenever the U.S. fell behind in the knockout round, it was Durant who bailed them out. KD scored 29 points in the quarterfinals against Spain, the No. 2 ranked team in the workd and reigning world champs. KD scored 23 in the semifinals against Australia, the same squad that embarrassed the U.S. in Las Vegas. In the gold-medal game against France, Durant finished with a game-high 29 points. He made nine of 18 shots from the field and iced the game with two clutch free throws with 8.8 seconds left.

“France is a good team. They don’t quit. They play hard. They’re a big team,” Durant said of the silver medalists, which were led by Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert, the NBA’s defensive player of the year.

“They presented a nice challenge for us,” Durant said. “But we wanted them again. We wanted to play them again, just like we wanted to play Australia again.”

Gobert and a defensive-minded French national team didn’t make it easy for the U.S. The game was up for grabs until late in the fourth quarter when the Americans were able to cobble enough winning plays, with timely baskets from Durant and Lillard and hustle plays from Holiday and Draymond Green.

“It’s winning time. It’s one game. It’s win or go home. I gotta give it my all every second I’m out there,” Durant said. “I’ve prepared the right way. I just gotta go out there and trust that work.”

Popovich called this version of Team USA a “high-character” and “high-spirited” group that worked very hard and understood the challenge. Those are nice compliments, but high character and high spirit might earn yourself a bronze. Czech Republic guard Tomas Satoransky, who played against the U.S. in pool play, said the Americans’ biggest strength was “anyone can light it up.”

“They are the best team in the world,” Satoransky said. “I think the gap is getting smaller between USA Basketball and the rest of the world, but obviously they have the most skilled players.”

The gap may be closing between the U.S. and the rest of the world, but there is only one Kevin Durant and USA Basketball was sure glad he made the trip to Tokyo.

To say that USA Basketball had a rocky training camp heading into the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo would be an understatement. The senior men’s national team lost its first two exhibition games in Las Vegas, had three players enter the health and safety COVID protocols, and two players dropped out.

Even head coach Gregg Popovich got off on the wrong foot with the media as he was involved in a testy exchange with a reporter after Team USA fell to Australia 91-83.

Popovich and his staff, which includes Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr and former Atlanta Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce, have a gigantic task ahead of them. The 2021 squad has only been together for two weeks and have played just four exhibition games, going 2-2. It has already undergone multiple roster changes after Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal and Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love both left camp.

Beal’s exit was COVID-related, while Love was due to an injury. San Antonio Spurs forward Keldon Johnson and Denver Nuggets center JaVale McGee were added to the 12-man roster. In addition to those moves, the team will need to absorb Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker and Milwaukee Bucks teammates Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton as all three just finished playing in the NBA Finals. So, we won’t be able to see all 12 players together on the court until the team’s opening game on July 25 against France.

Then there’s the large shadow of Mike Krzyzewski. The legendary college basketball coach had a remarkable 10-year run as head coach of USA Basketball, winning three Olympic gold medals and two FIBA World Cup titles and finishing with an astounding 60-1 record. That’s quite a tough act to follow for Popovich, who has already lost five games since taking over USAB’s senior men’s squad in 2017.

Under Popovich, Team USA hasn’t won a significant international tournament and had a disappointing outing in the 2019 FIBA World Cup, failing to medal and finishing seventh.

Coach Pop has two holdovers from Krzyzewski’s 2016 gold medal team in Rio: Kevin Durant (Brooklyn Nets) and Draymond Green (Golden State Warriors).

He’ll lean on the former Warriors teammates to be the leaders of an inexperienced unit that has yet to forge an identity. Durant led Team USA in scoring (19.4) in Rio 2016, so he’ll be asked again to carry the load offensively and be the No. 1 option. Green is the ideal big man at the FIBA level. His versatility will be a huge asset, as well as his defensive acumen. Green and Bam Adebayo (Miami Heat) will rotate at the center position, and could even see time together at certain points.

“We do have all the best players in the league, but these national teams have NBA players, too, who are now No. 1 options and they’re used to playing that role internationally,” Durant told Yahoo Sports.

Despite all its issues, the U.S. remains the favorite in Tokyo. But winning gold is no longer a foregone conclusion. The rest of the world has closed the gap and many international teams are not intimidated by the Stars and Stripes.

“There are more great players all over the world. That’s pretty obvious,” Popovich said. “There are more and more foreign players in the NBA. Every year they go back and play for their home countries as they should. It makes the competition even greater. Makes it more challenging for everybody, including us. But that’s a wonderful thing. Obviously the international has grown, and people love it.”

Team USA point guard Damian Lillard (Portland Trail Blazers) is well aware of the talent outside the U.S. He recently faced one of them in the 2021 NBA playoffs in Facundo Campazzo. The Argentine guard played a huge role in helping the Nuggets eliminate the Blazers in the NBA playoffs.

“These teams are experienced. They’ve spent a lot of time together,” Lillard said. “We are working at becoming a team, still getting our legs under us, getting in shape. We’re not just gonna come out, roll the ball out, and beat these teams. We gotta play the right way … compete. We gotta play to win and give ourselves our best chance. If we don’t, we can get beat.”

Here are six teams that could beat Team USA in Tokyo.

Australia
NBA veteran Joe Ingles wasn’t surprised when his Aussies defeated the U.S. in an exhibition game in Las Vegas. In fact, Ingles said Australia expected to win the game. The Aussies have every right to be confident because they have one of the most talented rosters in the Summer Games. Head coach Brian Goorjian has seven players with NBA experience, including Ingles (Utah Jazz), Patty Mills (San Antonio Spurs), Matisse Thybulle (Philadelphia 76ers), and Aron Baynes (Toronto Raptors). NBA fans know Mills as a role player with the Spurs, but whenever he puts on the Australian national colors he turns into Allen Iverson. Thybulle is a lockdown defender who can “shut off water” in a hurry. Most basketball fans are not familiar with Jock Landale, but they’ll know who he is after Tokyo. Landale, 25, is a well-rounded center armed with a 3-point shot. Landale, who currently plays for Melbourne United in the NBL, would like nothing more than prove to the basketball world that he deserves a shot at the NBA. After finishing fourth in the last two major international competitions, this might be the year the Aussies (ranked No. 3 in FIBA) finally take home a medal.

Spain
Reigning FIBA World Cup champions and No. 2 ranked team Spain possesses the best group of centers and pure point guards in the Olympics. Brothers Marc and Pau Gasol anchor a big Spanish frontcourt that could present plenty of problems for teams in Tokyo. Pau, 41, is playing in his fifth Olympics and would love to finish his decorated career on the national team with a gold medal around his neck. Marc, 36, will be participating in his third Olympics. He won silver in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics. Pau and Marc are not the only pair of brothers playing for Spain. Juancho Hernangomez (Minnesota Timberwolves) and Willy Hernangomez (New Orleans Pelicans) give Spain four quality big men who could wear teams down. Spain also has good depth at point guard with Ricky Rubio (Minnesota Timberwolves), Sergio Rodriguez, and Sergio Llull. All three are capable of running the show. It seems like Rubio has been around the international stage for decades, but he’s only 30 and still in the prime of his basketball life. Llull is one of the top players in the Euroleague and could easily run an NBA offense. At 36 years old, Rudy Fernandez no longer has the legs to attack the rim but he is still an excellent 3-point shooter.

Slovenia
Charles Barkley often refers to ordinary players as JAGs, which stands for Just A Guy. Luka Doncic might the only active player in the world, other than LeBron James, who could take a bunch of JAGs and win a major tournament. Doncic pulled off a stunner during the Olympic qualifying round when he put an entire nation on his back and carried it to its first trip to the Olympic Games. The 22-year-old Dallas Mavericks superstar dropped a triple-double (31 points, 11 rebounds, 13 assists) in the win over Lithuania, sending his home country of Slovenia to Tokyo. “I don’t care about the MVP,” Doncic said. “We won here. We’re going to the Olympics, the first time in our country. It’s amazing. I think every kid dreams about being in the Olympics. I did too. So, here we are. We fought really, really hard, and I think we deserve to be here.” Slovenia may not be a medal favorite, but anything is possible as long as Luka is on the court.

France
Les Bleus returns seven players from its bronze-medal team in the 2019 FIBA World Cup. One of those returning players is three-time NBA defensive player of the year Rudy Gobert. The 7-1 center powered the Utah Jazz to the best record in the NBA and a second-round appearance in the playoffs. Gobert anchors a French squad sprinkled with NBA talent: Nicolas Batum (Los Angeles Clippers), Evan Fournier (Boston Celtics), Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot (Brooklyn Nets), Frank Ntilikina (New York Knicks). With Gobert protecting the paint and Batum and Ntilikina smothering perimeter players, France will have one of the best defenses in the Olympics. The problem will come on the offensive end. Scoring could be an issue, especially if Fournier struggles from the field.

Argentina
Luis Scola is the last remaining member of the golden age of Argentina basketball. Scola won a gold medal with Argentina — a squad spearheaded by San Antonio Spurs superstar Manu Ginobili — in the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Those glory days a long gone for both Argentina and Scola, but the 41-year-old power forward remains one of the craftiest low-post scorers in FIBA despite having logged thousands of minutes in his basketball career. Scola is surrounded by a talented group of Argentines, including feisty point guard Facundo Campazzo (Denver Nuggets) and 20-year-old sensation Leandro Bolmaro. Bolmaro starred on FC Barcelona in the Euroleague and his draft rights are owned by the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Nigeria
Nigeria stunned the basketball world when it defeated the U.S. 90-87 in an exhibition game in Las Vegas. Then, the Nigerians dominated Argentina in the same Vegas tuneup event. The blowout against Argentina proved that the win over Team USA wasn’t a fluke. The Nigerians are for real and poised to make noise in Tokyo. Head coach Mike Brown — currently an assistant with the Golden State Warriors — is building a formidable program, utilizing the same principles that made the Warriors successful. They share the ball and have some 3-point snipers to space the floor. Three Miami Heat players are on the Nigerian roster: Precious Achiuwa, Chikezie “KZ” Okpala, Nnamdi Vincent. Guard Caleb Agada, who plays in the Israeli league, made a name for himself in Vegas as he lit up Team USA for 17 points. Agada will be on the Denver Nuggets summer league squad.

Head coach Sergio Scariolo led Spain to a silver medal in the London Olympics. (GETTY IMAGES)

The U.S.-Spain titanic showdown in the gold-medal game lived up to all the hype. The game hung in the balance until the final quarter when Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, and LeBron James made crucial baskets to give the U.S. enough separation from a very game Spanish squad led by Pau Gasol, Marc Gasol, and Juan Carlos Navarro.

The United States held off Spain, 107-100, to win its fifth gold medal in men’s basketball in the last six Olympics.

Even though the U.S. was the better team and certainly deserved to be crowned Olympic champions, Spain has to feel incredibly disappointed in the outcome because it pushed Team USA to the limit only to watch the game slip away thanks to few curious decisions by Spanish head coach Sergio Scariolo.

With about six minutes left to play in the first half, Spain center Marc Gasol picked up his third foul. That usually leads to a quick substitution, but Scariolo inexplicably left Gasol on the court for another two minutes and the 7-footer — who plays for the Memphis Grizzlies — picked up his fourth foul while trying to grab a rebound. The game was close and there was no need for Gasol to be in the game. That mistake proved costly because Gasol was forced to sit the entire third quarter, in which the U.S. surged ahead and built a small lead, and did not check in until early in the fourth quarter.

Another questionable move came late in the fourth when Scariolo junked Spain’s 2-3 zone defense in favor of a box-and-one gimmick to try to slow down Kevin Durant. The move is not out of the ordinary, but Pau Gasol said Spain had never practiced that type of defense.

The confusion caused a breakdown on the back end, including a play when two Spanish players stuck with Durant and left LeBron with a wide open lane for an easy dunk.

Despite all of Scariolo’s questionable decisions, the Spaniards still had a chance to win the gold medal and it took some clutch baskets by Chris Paul and LeBron James to avert one of the biggest upsets on Olympic history.

Paul scored seven of his 11 points in the final quarter, including a tough scoop shot with 50 seconds left that even got Coach K off his chair. Paul’s layup gave the U.S. a 104-93 lead, and the 11-point cushion proved to be too much of a deficit for Spain, which has now lost to the U.S. in back-to-back gold-medal games in the Olympics.

Durant had a spectacular game for the U.S., leading all scorers with 30 points. His 156 total points in the tournament set a new Olympic record, moving ahead of American Olympic stars Spencer Haywood (1968), Charles Barkley (1992), and Michael Jordan (1984).

Durant was so good in the gold-medal game Spain paid him the ultimate compliment by junking their normal 2-3 zone defense and switching to a box-and-one scheme in the fourth quarter to try to cool down the Oklahoma City Thunder star, who had 27 points through three quarters.

But Durant also got plenty of help from LeBron (19 points) and Kobe (17 points). Kobe saved his best games in the knockout round while LeBron capped off a sensational summer by becoming the second player to win NBA regular-season MVP, NBA Finals MVP, NBA title and Olympic title in the same year, joining Jordan.

Mike Krzyzewski coached his final game for USA Basketball in the gold-medal game against Spain. (GETTY IMAGES)

Mike Krzyzewski got a well-deserved victory shower after the United States held off Spain 107-100 in the men’s basketball gold-medal game.

Instead of a Gatorade bath, Krzyzewski got doused with water courtesy of LeBron James. Krzyzewski announced that the 2012 London Olympics would be his last game coaching USA Basketball. He’ll only remain as adviser in the program, but his head coaching days for Team USA are over.

When asked if he was sure he was done, Krzyzewski said “yes” this was his last game as USA coach.

Krzyzewski, who has led Duke to four NCAA championships, took over the U.S. team in 2005. In the past seven years, he has restored the powerful American program, which was in disarray following a third-place finish at the 2004 Athens Games. However, led by Krzyzewski, the U.S. got redemption and a gold medal four years ago in China, won the world championships in 2010 and can win gold again by beating Spain.

Although he won’t take credit, Krzyzewski’s impact on the U.S. program has been immense.

“It goes beyond what has happened on the floor,” USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo told The Associated Press.

“He’s been so important to me in everything we’ve done in building the infrastructure and philosophy and standards — all of it,” Colangelo said. “His legacy goes beyond the record on the court.”

USA Basketball is 62-1 (including exhibition games) under Krzyzewski and his staff that includes Jim Boeheim, Mike D’Antoni and Nate McMillan.

But beyond the wins and statistical records, the biggest thing Coach K brought to the USA program is stability and consistency. He jokes about his lone blemish — a loss to Greece in the 2006 World Championships — and instead of sinking his head in a tub and hiding from the criticism, Coach K admitted mistakes made against Greece and has used that game as motivation in Beijing (Olympics), Turkey (FIBA Worlds), and London (Olympics.)

He ran the same offense and defense concepts since taking over in 2005, and he was able to check all the egos at the door and found a way to keep everyone on the same page without ruining reputations. That alone is an incredible accomplishment considering Krzyzewski has zero NBA experience and he’s dealing with grown men instead of college kids, and multimillionaires instead of students on athletic scholarships.

“Coach K is more about relationships than X’s and O’s,” said Philadelphia 76ers coach Doug Collins, whose son, Chris, is one of the assistant coaches at Duke.

The 2012 U.S. Olympic team has two core groups: Five players from the Beijing Olympics (LeBron, Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony, Deron Williams, Chris Paul) and five players from the world championships in Turkey (Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Tyson Chandler, Kevin Love, Andre Iguodala). The last two roster spots went newcomers James Harden and Anthony Davis.

Coach K was able to take the Turkey team and incorporate it with the Beijing team and mold it into one super group. He pulled it off because the players trusted him and they formed a close relationship with him.

Krzyzewski and Henry Iba (1964, 1968) are the only U.S. coaches to lead the Americans to gold medals in consecutive Olympics. In seven years as head coach of the USA Basketball program, Coach K has returned USA back to where it belongs — No. 1 in the basketball world.

France’s Nicolas Batum lost his cool against Spain in the quarterfinals of men’s basketball at the London Olympics. (GETTY IMAGES)

For a country known for being good lovers instead of good fighters, France unleashed its dark side and took it out on Spain.

Nicolas Batum and Ronny Turiaf, two players who don’t have thuggish reputations in the NBA, lost their cool at the end of a heated quarterfinal men’s basketball game at the London Olympics won by Spain, 66-59.

The shenanigans started with 24 seconds left when Turiaf shoved Rudy Fernandez at midcourt. It was a hard foul, but because Fernandez definitely embellished the contact — as he is known to do in his career — the Spaniards thought an unsportsmanlike personal foul should have been called on Turiaf.

On the next in-bounds play, Batum gave the Spaniards something to really cry about as he took a swing at Juan Carlos Navarro and his schoolyard-like wild right punch landed on Navarro’s groin. Apparently, groin shots are becoming real popular in London (see Carmelo Anthony and Argentina).

Afterwards, Batum told Yahoo! Sports writer Adrian Wojnarowski he wanted to give Navarro “a good reason to flop.” The Spaniards’ dubious reputation for flopping has irked the Portland Trail Blazers forward and his French teammates.

Batum’s low blow capped off a very frustrating game for France. It led for much of the ballgame, but struggled to find the basket in the fourth quarter. Batum made a running shot with 6:50 left in the fourth to give France a 57-54 lead. That was France’s last field goal until Mickael Gelabale broke the 6:45 scoring drought with five seconds left in the game.

Pau Gasol ignited the 12-2 fourth-quarter run for the Spaniards when he rejected Nando Di Cola’s layup and that defensive play led to a dunk by Sergio Llull to give Spain the lead for good at 58-57. Spain’s defense was superb in the fourth quarter, holding France to just six points in the quarter and forcing 11 straight misses in the last six minutes. In one key possession, Tony Parker had his jump shot blocked by Fernandez and then Ronny Turiaf’s follow-up under the rim was stuffed by Pau. A great defensive stand by a team not known for lockdown defense.

Spain stretched the lead to 62-57 with 45 seconds left when Pau found his younger brother, Marc, under the basket for a layup that essentially cinched the victory and a trip to the semifinals. The Gasol brothers combined for 24 points and 19 rebounds. Parker led France with 15 points.

Carmelo Anthony made 10 of his 12 3-point shots against Nigeria. (FIBA)

The most impressive part about the United States’ 156-73 destruction of Nigeria in the preliminary round of the men’s basketball tournament at the 2012 London Olympics was Carmelo Anthony’s 37 points in 14 minutes.

Think about it. Melo made13 of 16 shots from the field and was 10-for-12 from behind the 3-pointer arc (a couple of feet shorter than the NBA line). He did all that in 14 minutes! That’s not even a complete half of basketball. Had Anthony played another 14 minutes he could have easily reached 60 points, which would have broken Oscar Schmidt’s single-game mark of 55 points.

Anthony set the U.S. Olympic mark for points in a game in less than three quarters, breaking Stephon Marbury’s old record of 31 points set in the 2004 Athens Olympics. The U.S. also set the Olympic record for points in a game and points in a half (78), as well as most 3-pointers (26), field goals (59) and best field-goal percentage (71).

“Well, obviously, we just shot better than any team in a game that I have ever coached,” said USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski. “Our guys just couldn’t miss tonight, and they shared the ball.”

The U.S. had a record-tying 41 assists, including 11 assists from Chris Paul (Los Angeles Clippers). Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder) scored 21 points, Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers), who played in the first half only, had 16, Kevin Love (Minnesota Timberwolves) had 15; Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder) finished with 14; and Deron Williams (Brooklyn Nets) had 13 points and was 3-for-3 from 3-point range.

“Well, the support system that we had, that I had with my teammates, you can’t explain that,” Anthony said. “The way that they tell me to shoot the ball, encouraging me to make shots, take shots, but then just to feel it every time, that touch, it’s kind of hard to explain it. If you’ve never done it, you really wouldn’t understand what I’m talking about just in terms of shooting the ball and shooting it well.”

The USA opened with a 13-0 run and had nearly set the record for team 3-pointers made in the first 10 minutes, shooting 11-of-14 from behind the arc in the first quarter – four of those came from Anthony, and three were by Durant. Nigeria tried to slow the pace with timeouts at 7:16 and 2:06, but its efforts were in vain as the first-quarter buzzer sounded on the USA’s highest scoring quarter of the tournament, 49-25.

“It’s funny to see, man, Durant said. “What Carmelo did was unbelievable. Hopefully we keep it up. We passed the ball well, our guys were knocking down our shots, our point guards made sure we got open shots and we were able to knock them down. So, it was a fun game.”

The previous U.S. Olympic high had been 133 points set by the 1996 squad against China, and the previous all-time Olympic high was 138 points, which was recorded by Brazil in a win over Egypt in 1988.

“It’ll go down in history,” said Andre Iguodala, whose 3-pointer with less than five minutes to play in the fourth quarter broke the scoring record. “It only matters if we achieve our goals. We’re trying to get better as a team going forward. That’s three games down and a few more to go. Our mission is to get the gold and we’re trying to peak at the right time.”

FIBA.com and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Russian players react after beating Brazil, 75-74, in Olympic competition. (NBC)

Russia and Brazil offered the best game of the 2012 London Olympics so far. Most of the preliminary basketball games have been blowouts, but not this one. From start to finish, the game went back-and-forth and you’ll never see a better final minute of action in any Olympics hoops game.

It started with a turnover by Brazilian point guard Marcelo Huertas that gave the ball back to Russia with 44 seconds left and down by three. Russia guard Alexey Shved, who will play for the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2012-13, tied the game at 72 with a clutch 3-pointer from the wing.

After a timeout, Huertas atoned for his earlier mistake and put Brazil ahead 74-72 with six seconds left on a clever off-balance scoop shot off a screen from Nene, the starting center for the Washington Wizards.

Russia coach David Blatt, who is an American-Israeli, drew up a beautiful sideline play that set up the game-winner. Shved inbounded the ball to a cutting Vitaly Fridzon, who was able to launch a 3-pointer despite being knocked off balance by Brazilian guard Leandro Barbosa.

Barbosa, who played for the Toronto Raptors last season, may have been trying to foul Fridzon before the shot, but the Russian foiled that plan and buried the dagger 3-pointer despite having his feet taken out by a diving Barbosa. Fridzon gave Russia a 75-74 lead with four seconds left. Brazil had one last desperation heave at the buzzer, but Barbosa’s shot hit the backboard and never had a chance of going in. Russia survives and stays undefeated with a one-point victory.

Andrei Kirilenko, who signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves, led Russia with 19 points. Tim Mozgov (Denver Nuggets) had 18 and Shved finished with 17. Barbosa led Brazil with 16 points.

LeBron James dunks on Tunisian forward Mohamed Hadidane during a preliminary round basketball game at the London Olympics (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

The United States men’s basketball team took the night off against Tunisia yet the Americans still won by a whopping 47 points. The 110-63 final score masked Team USA’s slow start, leading by just 13 points at halftime despite having a distinct advantage in size, speed, quickness, skill, and anything you can think of.

The game didn’t become a complete rout until the third quarter when a lineup of Deron Williams, Russell Westbrook, Andre Iguodala, Carmelo Anthony, and Kevin Love took control and powered Team USA to a 39-14 edge in the third quarter against the overwhelmed Tunisians. Love and Anthony led the U.S. with 16 points each. Davis was five-for-five from the field (all dunks) and finished with 12 points, while Westbrook netted 11 points. Kevin Durant was the only starter in double figures, as he finished with 13 points.

The game turned into a dunk contest as Westbrook, Iguodala, Anthony Davis, and LeBron James took turns throwing down some serious slams. LeBron’s dunk in the first half over Tunisian forward Mohamed Hadidane was easily the best of all of them, as he cocked his right hand on a break and rattled the rim with a Jordanesque pose. In case you were too busy watching the tape-delayed swimming and gymnastics events on NBC, LeBron’s highlight-reel dunk was one his finest as well as one of him most powerful dunks. I had the video up on YouTube, but NBC and IOC have blocked it. Sorry.

China’s Yi Jianlian throws down a monster dunk against Spain. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Yi Jianlian seems to play his best whenever he wears the Chinese national team jersey. He proved it again in the first day of men’s basketball competition at the London Olympics when he scored a game-high 30 points against Spain.

China hung tough against the second-best team in the world, according to the FIBA rankings, but the Spaniards — led by Pau Gasol’s 21 points and 11 rebounds — eventually imposed their power and strength in the game and coasted to a 97-81 victory. Juan Carlos Navarro, who once played for the Memphis Grizzlies, netted 14 points for Spain and Toronto Raptors guard Jose Calderon had 12.

Yi unleashed his full arsenal against the silver medalists from the Beijing Games, scoring on face-up jumpers, dribble drives, and put-backs. But his most impressive play came on a blow-by dunk against Spain center Marc Gasol. Yi got Gasol on a pump fake on the wing and then threw down a monster dunk that drew a billion cheers from China.

Since the retirement of Yao Ming, Yi has now become the unofficial face of China basketball. But the 24-year-old forward doesn’t seem to embrace that title as well, and as seriously, as Yao did. Yi remains an enigma because he has all the tools to be a star player in the NBA, but doesn’t seem to dedicate himself to be a big-time player. He has played for four NBA teams in five seasons and has a career scoring average of just 7.9. For a guy who is blessed with great athletic ability for a 7-footer, that is a mind-boggling statistic.

He was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks in 2007, but averaged just 8.6 points his rookie season. He was traded to the New Jersey Nets the following season and enjoyed his best season as a pro in 2009-10 when he averaged 12 points and 7.2 rebounds in 52 games. In his last two seasons, Yi’s numbers and minutes have decreased significantly. He averaged just 5.6 points for the Washington Wizards in 2010-11 and a measly 2.6 points for the Dallas Mavericks in 2011-12.

Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle was on hand to watch Yi drop 30 points on Spain in China’s Olympics opener, so the potential is there. Maybe Carlisle needs to have Yi wear the Chinese colors under the Mavs’ jersey to get him going.