Hoops Nation

Team USA had a great outing earlier tonight. A lot of records, scoring-wise, were broken. It was just amazing to see what this year’s team did against Team Nigeria. Heck, it seemed like Nigeria was not even in the picture, other than being on the losing end of a historic game. Each and every member of Team USA had a great contribution and their team work showed they could get work done.
 

The Americans had it going from the get-go. One indication of a great start to the night was Kobe’s scoring outing in the first, with 14 points, at the end of the first quarter. The Americans shot the ball exceptionally well from three-point line. They made 11 three-point baskets off of 14 shot attempts. They totalled 18 made baskets on 22 attempts. Team USA ended the first quarter up by 24, 49-25.
 

The second quarter was a bit slowed down, but it was still, nonetheless, exciting for the all of the audience watching at home. Team USA took less shots from the three-point line, but they did attack the basket and had easy and open fast break opportunities for easy two-point baskets. The only three-pointers they made in the second period were made by Carmelo Anthony and Deron Williams; both shots were made with less than two minutes to go in the half. Team USA scored 29 and Team Nigeria managed to score 20. At the end of two quarters, Team Nigeria trailed the United States by 33, 78-45.
 

Then, the records started breaking. To get it out of the way, Team Nigeria only scored a combined 28 points in the second half; 17 in the third quarter and 11 in the fourth quarter. Team USA was filled with all smiles and laughs from the court to the bench as Carmelo Anthony broke the all-time scoring record for Team USA, after a made three-point basket in the third period. Anthony scored 34 points to knock-off Stephon Marbury’s previous record of 31 points. Carmelo Anthony was superb from beyond the arc, being 9-of-11 shooting from three-point land. Team USA managed to score 41 points in the third quarter and pushed their lead to 57, 119-62.
 

The fourth quarter was the most historic of all. This 2012 squad surpassed the most points scored by any USA team, which was 127, scored by the 1992 Dream Team; they accomplished that score twice. Andre Igoudala was the man to make history by scoring a three-point basket to put Team USA’s score at 130. Igoudala did not stop there, however. He made another three-point basket to make this game the highest scoring Olympic game by a single team; the previous record was Brazil’s 168 points. It does not end there. The previous record for three-pointers made in a game was 13. Team USA broke the record by making 29 three-pointers. To top off the record-breaking night, Team USA beat the Dream Team’s 68-point win differential by obliterating Team Nigeria by 83, 156-73.
 

Team Nigeria Top Performers
 

Scoring: Ike Diogu, 27; Chamberlain Oguchi, 11; Ejike Ugboaja, 8
 
Assists: Al-Farouq Aminu, 4; Richard Oruche, 2; Alade Aminu, 1
 
Rebounds: Ike Diogu, 7; Alade Aminu, 6; Derrick Obasohan, 4
 

Team USA Top Performers
 

Scoring: Carmelo Anthony, 37; Russell Westbrook, 21; Kobe Bryant, 16
 
Assists: Deron Williams, 11; Chris Paul, 7; Kevin Durant, 6
 
Rebounds: Anthony Davis, 6; Kevin Love, 6; Tyson Chandler, 5
 

Team USA Preliminary Round Record 3-0
 

Team USA also tied the all-time assist record with a total of 41 assists. They were 81% from inside the arc and 63% from beyond the arc. Team USA caused havoc on the defensive end, forcing 25 turnovers, while grabbing 12 steals. The night was a dreamy and historical night for Team USA and America should be proud of their hoops team. Next up for Team USA is Lithuania.
 

Around the Olympics Scores
 

France 82 – 74 Lithuania
 

Australia 81 – 61 China
 

Argentina 92 – 69 Tunisia
 

Brazil 74 – 75 Russia
 

Spain 79 – 78 Great Britain