The United States men’s basketball team crushed China in its opening game of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, and now it turns to Venezuela for its second Group A game.
Kevin Durant led Team USA with 25 points and the American’s uptempo game and superior depth were too much for the Chinese. That likely will be the case against Venezuela as well, which lost by 24 to Serbia in its first group stage matchup.
Keep it right here for live score updates, highlights and analysis from USA vs. Venezuela.
Final, 113-69 USA: Team USA played poorly in the first quarter and was tied 18-18 after 10 minutes, but Coach K’s squad used a dominant second quarter to cruise to an easy win over Venezuela.
The U.S. is now 2-0 in Group A competition and will play Australia on Wednesday.
Paul George led the Americans with 20 points off the bench.
Fourth quarter, 1:16, 107-62 USA: The U.S. has outscored Venezuela 89-45 since the end of the first quarter.
Fourth quarter, 2:45, 105-62 USA: Paul George throws down a monster one-handed slam, which gets a huge reaction from the crowd and the Team USA bench.
Fourth quarter, 4:40, 96-58 USA: Paul George is hot from downtown with another 3-point shot. He’s 3 for 4 from beyond the arc.
Fourth quarter, 6:22, 89-53 USA: Paul George hits another three and has 11 points off the bench. The ball movement before George’s attempt was fantastic.
Fourth quarter, 7:28, 84-51 USA: DeAndre Jordan slams another putback dunk. Venezuela has no answer for his size or athleticism. All six of his field goals have come on dunks or lobs.
Venezuela still hasn’t scored in this quarter.
Fourth quarter, 8:32, 82-51 USA: DeAndre Jordan makes a layup on a lob pass and now has 12 points on 5 for 5 shooting. He’s having an excellent game at both ends of the floor.
Fourth quarter, 9:41, 75-51 USA: The starting lineup is getting a rest, but that’s OK because the U.S. bench has scored 34 points, just three fewer than the starters.
End of third quarter, 75-51 USA: Team USA wasn’t as dominant in the third quarter as it was in the second, but Venezuela couldn’t handle the athleticism of the Americans. Kevin Durant leads the U.S. with 16 points on 5 for 5 shooting, while Carmelo Anthony has chipped in 14.
Third quarter, 0:25, 75-51: Paul George sinks a three to increase Team USA’s lead. He has six points so far.
Third quarter, 4:15, 70-49: Harrison Barnes is the only player who hasn’t yet come off the U.S. bench.
Third quarter, 4:33, 61-38: Klay Thompson is now 0 for 4 from beyond the arc. Luckily for Team USA, Carmelo Anthony has been on fire since the second quarter.
Third quarter, 5:21, 60-35: DeAndre Jordan throws down an alley-oop slam and has nine points with six rebounds in a bench role.
Third quarter, 7:13, 56-29: Kevin Durant goes off the glass to his left jumping off the wrong foot. He leads the U.S. in scoring so far.
Third quarter, 8:44, 54-26: The U.S. is off to a quick 6-0 run to begin the quarter.
End of second quarter, 48-26 USA: Well, that’s more like it. Venezuela hung with the U.S. for the first 13 or so minutes of the game, but the Americans pulled away with better defense, strong rebounding and much better shooting from beyond the arc.
The U.S. outscored Venezuela 30-8 in the quarter. Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony lead Team USA in scoring with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Second quarter, 2:06, 41-24 USA: Some history made by Carmelo Anthony after he hits another 3-point shot.
LeBron James is the all-time leader with 273 points. Anthony should pass him by the end of the Rio Olympics barring an injury.
Second quarter, 2:55, 38-24 USA: DeAndre Jordan slams a put-back dunk and the U.S. is opening up a large lead.
Second quarter, 4:21, 31-22 USA: Carmelo Anthony knocks down a 3-point shot and Venezuela calls timeout. This might be the run where the U.S. pulls away.
Second quarter, 4:44, 28-22 USA: Kevin Durant sinks a pair of free throws to give Team USA its largest lead of the game.
Second quarter, 5:06, 26-22 USA: DeMarcus Cousins picks up another foul, his third, and is replaced by DeAndre Jordan.
Second quarter, 6:00, 26-22 USA: Klay Thompson is way off on another 3-point shot and is actually booed by the U.S. fans in attendance.
Second quarter, 6:32, 26-22 USA: The U.S. is having much more success driving to the basket than shooting from the perimeter. Kyrie Irving, Jimmy Butler and Kevin Durant need to take advantage of this because Venezuela lacks quality shot blockers in the paint.
Second quarter, 7:49, 22-20 USA: The officials are calling this game way too closely. We’re averaging about a foul per minute.
Second quarter, 9:01, 20-20: The teams have exchanged baskets to start the quarter.
End of first quarter, 18-18: That probably was the worst quarter the U.S. men’s Olympic basketball team has ever played. Jimmy Butler hit a corner 3-point shot to give Team USA an 18-16 lead with 12 seconds left, but then Venezuela hit two free throws with 2.6 seconds remaining to tie the score.
The U.S. helped Venezuela by committing nine fouls and giving up a ton of points at the free throw line.
First quarter, 0:41, 15-14 USA: DeMar DeRozan slashes to the basket and scores at the rim to give the U.S. another lead.
First quarter, 1:41, 12-11 USA: The U.S. has been very slopping this game. In the last minutes, Paul George dribbled into a crowd and nearly turned it over, and DeMar DeRozan gave up possession with a poor pass.
First quarter, 2:36, 11-10 Venezuela: Venezuela pounds it in the paint and take the lead.
First quarter, 4:11, 10-7 USA: Kyrie Irving hits a three to increase the Americans’ lead. It was the first points not scored by Durant. KD is 3 for 3 and his teammates are a combined 1 for 6.
First quarter, 5:05, 7-4 USA: Kevin Durant hits a three and has all seven U.S. points. Both teams are off to a sluggish start.
First quarter, 7:15, 4-4: DeMarcus Cousins has picked up two early fouls. DeAndre Jordan has replaced him at center.
First quarter, 9:00, 4-0 USA: Kevin Durant opens the scoring with an and-1 and a backdoor slam off a nice pass from Carmelo Anthony.
First quarter, 10:00, 0-0: Here’s the Team USA starting lineup.
PG: Kyrie Irving
SG: Klay Thompson
SF: Carmelo Anthony
PF: Kevin Durant
C: DeMarcus Cousins
5:56 p.m.: Team USA was quite balanced in the first game. All 12 players played at least 12 minutes and nine of them had seven or more points.
5:50 p.m.: We’re about 10 minutes from coverage of USA vs. Venezuela.
Thumbnail photo via Jeff Swinger/USA TODAY Sports Images
