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USA Men's Basketball Defeats Spain in Classic Game
24-Aug-2008
Written by: E. Van Dril
The game was discussed among the all-time best Olympic basketball games, and was extremely high scoring.
After the United States defeated Spain 118-107 to win the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics, it seemed obvious that it had been eight long years since the U.S. had won an international basketball tournament.
The entire team danced at mid-court following the final whistle, and then climbed up onto the medal stand, arm-in-arm, showing the team's unity.
The run of the men's basketball team in this Olympics, and to the buildup of the Olympics, really had been one of team building and ignoring individual egos.
The entire team, one year after the disappointing bronze medal finish, was asked to give a three-year commitment to USA basketball. The players did, and worked hard at building a team atmosphere, which was vital in their 2008 run to the gold.
Especially in the game against Spain, when the Spanish team (led by Paul Gasol and Rudy Fernandez) had cut their lead to two.
But the game came down, as it typically does, to making free throws. And the Americans had the best clutch player in the world - Kobe Bryant - and one of the young stars of the NBA - Chris Paul - to knock the pressurized shots down.
The high scorer of the game was Dwyane Wade, who scored 27 points. Bryant added 20 and LeBron James put in 14.
For Spain, Fernandez scored 22 points, and Gasol followed closely with 21.
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