Thanks for following along with the liveblog. Here’s to more competitive games later in the tournament.
And someone in Rio tell Jianlian to keep his cellphone on. If NBA teams are giving Timofey Mozgov $64 million and Tyler Johnson $50 million, he’s got a $500 million deal in the works.
The U.S. plays Venezuela next on Monday night. That game will be a similar domination.
China will play France on Monday night. France is a medal favorite. It will take a huge upset to keep China from falling to 0-2.
Final: USA 119-62 China
If we’re being very (very, very, very) generous, we can say the two superstars -- Durant and Jianlian -- played to a draw, and the U.S. depth made the difference. In reality, this was never a contest, even before the tipoff.
USA 117-62 China, 1:03 4th quarter
After a bad turnover by China leads to a Harrison Barnes bucket, China calls timeout. Their coach is really going to have to come up with some great strategy here to overcome the 55-point deficit in the final 63 seconds.
USA 113-62 China, 2:37 4th quarter
We’re at the portion of the game where the U.S. players on the bench are smiling and laughing.
Here’s a stat to smile and laugh at: China’s bench tonight has contributed 26 points and 23 fouls.
Updated
USA 107-61 China, 4:27 4th quarter
Jianlian just went through Draymond Green and Harrison Barnes for another bucket. He’s got 25 points in the game. The rest of China’s starting lineup has combined for ... 10 points.
USA 105-57 China, 5:22 4th quarter
Klay Thompson is 1-for-6 and 0-for-4 from three tonight. Durant is 10-for-14 and 5-for-8. So if people are wondering where Durant will get shots in Golden State, uhhh ... I have an early pick for who might lose shots in their offense.
USA 98-52 China, 7:46 4th quarter
Jianlian now has 23 points and, in all fairness, very much looks like his belongs in the NBA.
About that ...
Kevin Durant and Yi Jianlian, taken just four picks apart in 2007 draft, trading baskets.
— Brian Mahoney (@briancmahoney) August 6, 2016
Drafting: not a science.
USA 94-47 China, 9:32 4th quarter
Cousins scores in transition and gets the and-1 on a nice pass from Durant. The new Warriors star is clearly the best player on the court in this game. Some country should make a run at him to defect.
Updated
End of the 3rd quarter: USA 91-47 China
China started the second half strong, but inevitably got run over by superior talent again. Look for Team USA to empty its bench now ... which is full of NBA All-Stars.
USA 87-45 China, 1:20 3rd quarter
Houston Rockets 2nd Rounder Zhou Qi hits two free throws. He now has three points, a block, a steal and a rebound. That’s a quadruple-single against Team USA. No one can ever take that away from him.
USA 84-40 China, 2:39 3rd quarter
Kyrie Irving hits back-to-back threes -- his first points of the game -- to extend the US run to 16-0. Before that, the US was on a 68-40 “run.”
USA 78-40 China, 3:35 3rd quarter
Durant hits his fourth three of the night after some great ball rotation outside the perimeter leaves him wide open for three. It’s easy to wonder why China would leave him open, but who do you leave open on this team?
Am I talking about Team USA now or the Warriors? I’m not sure.
Updated
From Kyle Brown via e-mail ...
Maybe the Chinese strategy was patience - wait for the Americans to fall asleep to take advantage.
Maybe you’re right. That could give China a chance, as long as Jordan stays awake to shoot free throws.
USA 72-40 China, 5:35 3rd quarter
DeAndre Jordan hits one from the line. He’s now 3-for-10 on free throws for the night. So many international viewers are being exposed to DeAndre Jordan for the first time and are no doubt wondering how an American player can be this bad at shooting 15-foot shots without any defense.
Know that Americans wonder the same thing.
Updated
USA 70-40 China, 6:10 3rd quarter
The unit that started the second half for the U.S. is not playing well. They won’t be starting any halves against teams that can be competitive with the U.S.
It’s impossible to watch China and not wonder what could have been with Yao Ming. The former No. 1 overall pick hasn’t played since the 2010-2011 season, but he’s only 35 now and would still be a force if not for all his injuries. He might have been enough to keep China within 40.
Updated
USA 63-36 China, 7:43 3rd quarter
Zhai Xiaochuan hits a three for China, they create a turnover and then Zhou Qi hits a free throw. China is up 6-4 in the second half!
USA 60-32 China, 8:55 3rd quarter
Yi Jianlian banks in a shot from just inside the three-point line. Brazil may be having some problems, but the banks are still open.
Second half is underway!
Lowry, Butler, George, DeRozan, Jordan are the starting five for the U.S. in the 2nd half.
No, not Michael Jordan, unfortunately. It would be fun to see how well the U.S. would do with a 53-year old man in the lineup.
DeMar DeRozan is dunking on people and #USABasketball is rolling against China. #Basketball #Rio2016 https://t.co/2zEF7Fx2fK
— SPORTSBETTING (@SportsBettingAG) August 6, 2016
Team USA’s exhibition wins over China were by the scores of 106-57 and 107-57. This game is on pace to end 118-60.
Maybe Coach K is ripping the Americans in the locker room for their worsening defense.
At the half, the U.S. leads in field goal percentage, three-point percentage, free throw percentage, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks.
China has the edge in ... turnovers and fouls.
End of the 1st half: USA 59-30 China
Kevin Durant leads the U.S. with 17 points. Yi Jianlian leads China with 9.
Kyrie Irving is the only U.S. player who hasn’t scored. Perhaps he’s resting on his Game 7 laurels.
USA 59-30 China, 0:19 2nd quarter
DeAndre Jordan throws down a big dunk on an alley-oop pass from Durant. Even 4-foot-6 Ragan Smith could have defended that play better than China did.
USA 55-29 China, 2:05 2nd quarter
Harrison Barnes has checked into the game for the U.S. So the coaching staff officially thinks this game is out of reach.
USA 55-27 China, 3:00 2nd quarter
And there’s another three by Durant. Three possessions in a row, three threes in a row. Then he comes back down and misses one from 6-feet beyond the line.
Steph Curry, watching at home, probably thinks he would have made that one.
USA 52-26 China, 3:24 2nd quarter
Durant hits back-to-back from three and he now has 14 points. Durant is 2-for-2 from three. The rest of Team USA? Just 1-for-8. And they’re still up by 26 with more than two quarter remaining.
USA 44-22, 4:49 2nd quarter
Yuchen is taking a seat for China with 4 fouls. He’s filling up the stat sheet against NBA stars.
USA 42-22 China, 5:28 2nd quarter
A turnover by Kevin Durant leads to a nice transition bucket by China. Ratings go back up in OKC.
It’s now 12-12 in the 2nd quarter.
USA 40-18 China, 6:30 2nd quarter
A three-point play by Zou Yuchen means the U.S. is only winning the 2nd quarter so far by a score of 10-8. Baby steps. Baby steps by extremely tall men.
USA 38-15 China, 7:33 2nd quarter
After an impressive finish on an alley-oop, DeRozan comes back with two free throws and then another dunk in transition. He has 6 quick points off the bench.
Draymond Green is also in the game for the U.S. He is wearing shorts and hasn’t started an international incident with an assault. Things are going well for Team USA.
Updated
The U.S. shot 9-for-19 from the floor in the 1st quarter, China 4-for-14. The U.S. had one turnover to seven for Team China. And even with all of China’s 7-footers, they were out-rebounded 14-8. Yikes.
China only has three more quarters to put up with this, though! Silver linings.
End of the 1st quarter: USA 30-10 China
After the slow start, the U.S. ends the first half on a 26-6 run, punctuated by Jimmy Butler scoring at the buzzer. Basketball is a game of runs, though. So look for China to respond sometime with a 2-0 run.
Updated
Always interesting to see how the US responds to the officiating since, they uh, enforce rules in international competition. @DJGalloEtc
— Hunter Felt (@HunterFelt) August 6, 2016
Mike Krzyzewski will probably berate some officials anyway. It’s what he does.
It is fun that under international rules, balls can be swatted off the rim without a goaltending call.
USA 25-10 China, 1:29 1st quarter
Durant now has 8 points on 4-for-4 shooting. NBC’s ratings for this game are going to plummet in Oklahoma City.
Paul George is in the game now for the U.S. The last time he played for Team USA he had his horrific knee injury.
Today’s Olympics action has already had some gruesome injuries.
Awful injury from the Vault 😯 #RioOlympics2016 pic.twitter.com/jweIoPghvK
— Olie Chan (@chanman141) August 6, 2016
Let’s hope that’s over with for the day.
USA 19-6 China, 2:49 1st quarter
Durant hits on a nice post move in the lane and then Kyrie Irving dives for a loose ball. Remember that Kyrie Irving play if people tell you the Olympic team doesn’t try.
USA 15-6 China, 4:31 1st quarter
China responds off their timeout with a nice reverse layup by Yanyuhang to end the 9-0 run. Then Anthony gets two more points from the line.
USA 13-4 China, 5:10 1st quarter
The U.S. has started to open it up on a 9-0 run, fueled by Carmelo Anthony’s five points. Timeout by China.
It’s interesting how Carmelo Anthony is viewed as a winner and leader ... with Team USA. Back in the States with the Knicks? His image is completely opposite.
Updated
USA 6-4 China, 6:21 1st quarter
Sloppy, ugly game so far. The teams are a combined 3-for-12 from the field. It’s almost like none of the players have played meaningful basketball in a while.
Updated
China 2-2 USA, 8:04 1st quarter
Cousins hits two free throws and we’re tied. The next time down the court, the U.S. dumps it into Cousins again, but he got blocked by Qi. Two minutes in, the blowout has yet to start.
China 2-0 USA
China gets on the board first with two free throws by Yanyuhang. Upset in the works!
There's the tip!
China wins (the opening tip). It may go downhill from here for them ... and just as I type that, China’s first pass is picked off by the U.S.
Starting lineup for the US: Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, DeMarcus Cousins, Klay Thompson, Kyrie Irving.
Starting lineup for China: Yi Jianlian, Zhou Peng, Zhou Qi, Ding Yanyuhang, Zhao Jiwei
The teams are on the court warming up. Hopefully Carmelo Anthony isn’t too upset with the pregame music selections.
Melo is getting too old for this... pic.twitter.com/4zWtemCsYg
— Michael Lee (@MrMichaelLee) July 30, 2016
No U.S. team will ever match the dominance or aura of the original 1992 Dream Team. The test, outside of taking Gold -- looking at you, 2004 edition -- for all the teams since is making some iconic plays on the way to winning.
And the gold standard for that remains Vince Carter dunking over Frederic Weis in 2000.
Updated
China’s best shot at the upset might be if Team USA’s legs are tired after ACCIDENTALLY visiting a brothel in Rio on Wednesday night.
Classic mistake.
The U.S. isn’t playing with LeBron James or Steph Curry, but every player on the team is well-known. China’s most recognizable names are Yi Jianlian, a 7-footer who was the No. 6 overall pick by the Bucks in 2007 (and then had five forgettable NBA seasons), and Zhou Qi, a 2015 2nd Round pick by the Rockets.
Qi, who is 7-foot-2, had 15 points and 3 rebounds combined in the two exhibition games against the U.S. That’s not too far off from Dwight Howard-level production, so that’s something for Houston to maybe get excited about.
Welcome to the liveblog of the opening game of the Rio 2016 Men’s Basketball competition for the United States and China. I’d love to say we’re in for a great game, but for most every U.S. basketball game at the Olympics since 1992, the question isn’t if they’ll win but by how much.
The US and China met twice in late July in exhibition games and the US won by scores of 106-57 and 107-57. So, yes, it’s a safe bet that Team USA will win by quite a bit tonight.
DJ will be here shortly. In the meantime, it’s worth asking: is this USA team invincible?
This collection of NBA players might not be as impressive as the 1992 Dream Team, or even the 2012 team, but there’s seemingly no way they’ll miss out on a gold medal. The biggest threats to American basketball hegemony – Spain, Argentina, and France – are all trotting out players who are well past their prime. Lithuania might be a team to fear in 2020, once Domantas Sabonis has logged a few years in the NBA, but a victory over the USA seems highly unlikely.
With very little doubt hovering over the results of the tournament, the only thing to watch for in Rio is what I like to call the International Bounce. It’s like the US presidential convention bounce, but for basketball prowess. In the 2014 World Cup of Basketball, Cousins dominated and signaled that he’d be taking a step up once the season started. Of course, he didn’t and the Kings were abysmal yet again, but the hype was there over the summer. Do you remember that Carlos Boozer, Tayshaun Prince, and Michael Redd were on the 2008 Redeem Team? For players like that who aren’t perennial All-Stars and don’t win MVP awards, the International Bounce can be a career-defining moment. With this team having so many Olympic first-timers, there’s going to be a lot of guys with a lot to prove.
