Unbeatable aura of US NBA stars dimmed
Rio Olympic rivals saw the US NBA squad’s aura of invincibility punctured with a down-to-the-wire win over Australia, but the American millionaires say they were happy for the true challenge.
Carmelo Anthony scored 31 points and passed LeBron James to become the all-time US Olympic scoring leader in a 98-88 victory, but the two-time defending champions could not escape the stubborn Boomers’ threat until the dying seconds.
“I feel like we needed a test like that to prepare for what’s ahead of us,” Irving said. “We definitely took some steps in the right direction and building our character and identity as a team.”
The Americans next face Serbia today with a Sunday date against France to end their preliminary round play. Two wins will make them a top seed for next week’s playoff rounds.
It was the 20th US victory in a row since the Americans lost to Argentina in a semifinal at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
“It was a tough game. Adversity is always good,” said US forward Kevin Durant. “We fought through. That’s good for us just to see where we are. We needed it.
“We’ve all been through tough times playing basketball, been through tough stretches. We kind of know how to dig ourselves out of it.”
US coach Mike Krzyzewski has plenty of worries in analyzing the US path going into the knockout stages.
“You’re talking about two of the top international programs, two of the top level teams in the world,” he said. “We played against Serbia in the World Cup championship – unbelievably well coached.
“We hope to win and learn even more going into the medal rounds.”
