Olympic Coverage

Nothing is as easy as it looks, unless you’re really good at making it look easy.

The U.S. men’s Olympic basketball team expected to be tested at some point after winning its first two games by a combined 101. That test came from Australia on Wednesday night.

Carmelo Anthony’s hot shooting when the U.S. trailed 72-70 gave the team the lead it needed and bulked up the final victory margin to 98-88 with five free throws in the waning seconds.

Australia was bound to be competitive. It features a number of NBA players – Andrew Bogut, Patty Mills (who scored 30 points) and Matthew Dellavedova. The Aussies are big and tough underneath. Bogut’s hard foul on Kyrie Irving was one illustration, but the Americans didn’t back off. Paul George earned a technical foul for a hard foul on Dellavedova.

The competition was exactly what the Americans needed. As George said: “It got real. It definitely got real.”

The women’s team, which also rolled through its first two games by a combined victory margin of 105 points, defeated Serbia 110-84. Diana Taurasi scored 22 of her 25 points in the first half as the U.S. overcame an early 17-16 deficit with a 15-4 burst. Taurasi set a U.S. women’s record with six three-pointers and five Americans scored in double figures.

All in all, a good night for the U.S. Let the games continue.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman