by James De VeraTeam USA made easy work of Nigeria 110-66 in their final exhibition game before the 2016 Rio Olympics last Monday at the Toyota Center in Houston. USA Basketball concluded their preparations undefeated at 5-0, making them the favourites to win this year’s gold medal in men’s basketball. NBA elite forward Carmelo Anthony led the talented USA team with 19 points and 5 rebounds. Golden State Warriors superstars, Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant also impressed in the game hitting eight of the team’s 13 three pointers. The 14-time gold medallists dominated early in the game leading the Nigerians 2 in the first quarter 27-14 highlighted by a spectacular alley-hoop from Kyle Lowry to the towering DeAndre Jordan.
Nigeria has no answer to USA’s efficient offense in the second quarter as they trail 54-30 to the Americans led by Klay Thompson scoring 11 of his 17 points in the first half. Despite efforts to cut the lead, Nigeria just couldn’t stop USA’s firepower in the third period leaving them in the dust 84-45. Until the buzzer, team USA maintained their prolific showcasing of discipline, teamwork and talent completing rout over Nigerians 110-66. Former PBA import Chamberlain Oguchi scored team-high 21 points for Nigeria while Alade Aminu, Ike Diogu and Benjamin Uzoh also reached double figures scoring 13, 10 and 10 respectively. Kyrie Irving and Paul George did not see action in this game because of some minor injuries but are expected to make a huge impact in the upcoming games. Despite the absence of two of the NBA’s best players LeBron James and Stephen Curry, Team USA proves they are is still a force to reckon on. Their dominance was also shown in their other exhibition matches clubbering Argentina 111-74, China 106-57 and 107-57, and Venezuela 80-45. USA will be facing China and Venezuela again with heavyweights France, Serbia and Australia completing the cast in Group A in the Rio Olympics Men’s Basketball tournament.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
September 2016
Categories |