What they didn't mention here was that the USA caught up in the third when Marion started with Duncan, Odom, Marbury, and Iverson. Australia had a spurt to end the third. The US outscored them by 2 in the quarter.
Lithuania destroyed Greece today. US needs a good start defensively on Saturday. Todays game against Australia was worrying me in the first half.
U.S. turns up defense, turns back Australia
By J. Douglas Foster, NBCOlympics.com
POSTED: Thursday, August 19, 9:14 a.m.
UPDATED: Thursday, August 19, 5:42 p.m.
ATHENS -- It may have taken nearly three full games, but U.S. forward LeBron James thinks he has spotted momentum.
"I see it," James said. "I hope everybody else is seeing it too."
The first glimpse came in the fourth quarter Thursday, when the Americans -- who entered the quarter two points back of Australia -- went on a 10-0 run, propelling them to an 89-79 victory and a 2-1 record in the Olympics.
The key to the run, and in turn the victory, was obvious.
Defense.
For all the criticism and literary abuse Team USA has taken for its inability to make an open shot, its biggest mistake so far in these Games has been allowing too many open shots on the other end.
And unlike this collection of young, athletically gifted, high-flying Americans, most international teams are built around shooting ability. Give then an open look and they'll hit it.
Just as Australia did for three quarters.
The upset-minded Aussies (1-2) led by as many as 12 points in the first half, a result of its ability to make uncontested 3-pointers. The Americans continually either got caught up in screens or simply weren't there when Australia kicked the ball back out to a shooter.
As a result, Australia went 6-for-8 from 3-point range in the first quarter, building the lead to 31-29 before a Dwyane Wade basket in the closing moments of the first cut it to 10.
The lead reached 12 again in the second before a 12-6 U.S. run to close the period made it 51-47 Australia at the half.
Not much changed in the third as Australia took a 67-65 lead into the final 10 minutes.
But plenty changed in the fourth.
"We got out there and got stops," U.S. forward Shawn Marion said. "We were playing great defense, getting out in transition and creating easy baskets."
The Americans' shooting percentage in the fourth was directly related to their increased defensive intensity. The U.S. challenged 3-point shots, while at the same time limited inside space for Australia's big players.
The U.S. held Australia to just one basket for the first 5:20 of the fourth, while all seven baskets of the Americans' 14-2 run came inside, usually after getting out in transition after a defensive stop.
During the run, the Americans also got more players involved. While Tim Duncan once again led all players with 18 points, Marion came off the bench to score 16, six of those coming in the fourth. Wade was also big off the bench with 12, while James scored six of his eight points in the fourth.
"I try not to think about the negative when we get down," James said. "Our bench can give us a great spark, and that's what I try to do."
Allen Iverson scored 16 for the U.S. Shane Heal again led Australia with 17.
Game notes
The Americans also greatly limited their turnovers, committing just seven against Australia, a stark contrast from the 41 turnovers in their first two games (22 against Puerto Rico, 19 against Greece) ... Richard Jefferson was 1-for-3 from the field, and is now 4-for-26 (15.3 percent) from the field in the three Olympic games ... The U.S. has made 10 of its 62 attempts (16.1 percent) from 3-point range during the Games.
Thursday's other games
Argentina 82, China 57
Argentina forced China into 15 turnovers and neutralized 7-foot-5 center Yao Ming in an easy victory.
Yao, who scored 39 points just two days ago, was just 1-for-7 from the field in the first half. He finished with 15 points on 6-for-13 shooting. However, he wasn't able to control the glass as Argentina had a 40-29 rebounding advantage. Andres Nocioni had 17 points for Argentina, followed by Luis Scola's 15 and 14 from Emanuel Ginobili.
China is one of four teams in Group A with a 1-2 record and it finishes against two of the others -- Italy and reigning world champion Serbia-Montenegro. China must win at least one to advance to next week's quarterfinals, something it has done only once in seven previous Olympic appearances.
Puerto Rico 83, Angola 80
Puerto Rico had a tougher time with Angola than it did with the United States. Daniel Santiago blocked Carlos Almeida 3-point attempt as time expired to secure the victory for Puerto Rico (2-1).
Larry Ayuso led Puerto Rico with 17 points, while Antonio de Carvalho had 14 for Angola (0-3).
New Zealand 90, Serbia and Montenegro 87
The defending world champions fell to 1-2 with a close loss against New Zealand, sparked by a controversial call.
Down by one point in the final minute, New Zealand's Mark Dickel wrapped his arms around Milos Vujanic to draw the foul and stop the clock as Serbia and Montenegro inbounded the ball. But an offensive foul was called on Vujanic, and New Zealand scored on the resulting inbounds pass to go up by one.
Kirk Penney led New Zealand with 15 points.
Lithuania 98, Greece 76
Fresh off putting a scare in Team USA, host Greece was blown out by Lithuania, winners of the last three bronze medals.
Lithuania actually led 54-25 at the half, and pushed the lead well over 30 points several times in the second half before Greece outscored the Lithuanian reserves by 10 in the fourth.
Ramunas Siskauskas led Lithuania with 25 points to go with Saulius Stombergas' 22.
Spain 71, Italy 63
Jorge Garbajosa scored 17 points and Pau Gasol added 16 as Spain stayed perfect at 3-0.
The Italians actually led by four points entering the fourth quarter, thanks mostly to Alex Righetti's 18 points. But Spain outscored Italy 23-11 in the fourth on the way to victory.
. Didn't shoot that great for game from 3PT though (looking at stats) - so there might be some concern still. Serbia lost again...
