NBA stars smash Olympic records

LONDON—Two nail-biting finishes kept the pot boiling at the top of Group B in the men’s Olympic basketball on Thursday while a record-breaking romp underlined why the United States is the favorite to land gold.

Russia (3-0) squeezed past Brazil, 75-74, to maintain its unbeaten record at the summit of Group B along with 2008 silver medalist Spain (3-0), which narrowly held off an inspired British team to score a 79-78 victory.

Vitaliy Fridzon’s three-pointer while falling came with four seconds left on the clock and saw Russia home against Brazil (2-1).

Flood of 3-point scoring

A flood of three-point scoring earned the defending champions from the United States (3-0) a 156-73 drubbing of Nigeria (1-2) in Group A.

Led by Carmelo Anthony, who picked up 37 points, including a remarkable 10-of-12 from three-point range, the Americans set an Olympic record for most points in a game to surpass the haul of 138 by Brazil in 1988.

The US team’s 78 points at halftime was also a Games record.

Anthony also surpassed the 31 points scored by Stephon Marbury in 2004. The Americans finished 29 of 46 behind the arc, easily surpassing the 13 three-pointers they made in the 2008 gold-medal game.

Russell Westbrook added 21 points in an awesome performance that saw the Americans make 11 three-pointers in the first quarter, and they were only getting started.

Ike Diogu had 27 points for Nigeria. The Nigerians had said they weren’t intimidated by the Americans, who seem to be sending a message to the rest of the teams in the tournament that they are as good as advertised.

Incredibly, the United States eclipsed the 100-point mark with five minutes left in the third.

And when Andre Iguodala hit a three-pointer with 4:37 left, the Americans had surpassed the previous Olympic record of 138 points set by Brazil against Egypt in 1988.

When the record was announced to the mesmerized crowd, all the players seated on the US bench got up and slapped hands with coach Mike Krzyzewki and his staff.

Black Mamba

Kobe Bryant scored 16 points—14 in the first quarter—for the Americans, who scored 49 points in the first and didn’t let up after scoring 78 in the first 20 minutes.

Kevin Durant scored 14 for the United States, which will play Lithuania on Saturday.

Bryant was mostly a nonfactor in wins over France and Tunisia, playing just 21 minutes and getting into early foul trouble. But from the outset against Nigeria, the two-time Olympian nicknamed the Black Mamba was as deadly as ever.

Bryant set the tone by scoring seven quick points as the United States raced to a 13-0 lead.

Shooting gallery of stars

Durant buried three three-pointers, Bryant and Anthony added two from long-range and when Kevin Love came off the bench and knocked down his first 3, the US team’s shooting gallery of stars had opened a 41-15 lead. With a report from Reuters