| Advertisement |
RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug. 10 (UPI) -- Carmelo Anthony kept Team USA from being upset by Australia Wednesday, leading the team to a 98-88 victory in Group A. Anthony scored 31 points to pace Team USA's 72nd consecutive victory. Kyrie Irving added 19 points and Kevin Durant scored 14 points in the narrow win. Aussie Patty Mills led all scorers with 30 points. Matthew Dellavedova scored 11 points and had 11 assists and six rebounds in the loss.
Advertisement
"I can tell you, I wasn't thinking about 2004 man," Anthony told USA Today's Sam Amick. "I was out there playing tonight. That experience – it is what it is. We accepted it. We know that feeling, and we don't want to experience that feeling anymore."
"Being in those types of games, and taking advantage of different possessions, and understanding the difference of the game – time and score – and making plays."
The two squads were tied 29-29 after the first quarter and the United States trailed 54-49 at halftime. Team USA then outscored Australia 49-34 in the second half for the victory at the Summer Games.
In evening action, Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte had another chance to battle each other, despite their shared American allegiance. Phelps edged Lochte in the men's 200-meter individual medley semifinal, but both qualify for Thursday's 10 p.m. final.
Phelps swam 1:55.78 to qualify in first place, while Lochte's 1:56.28 was good enough for second place qualification.
RUNDOWN IN RIO
American Kristin Armstrong earned the first medal of the day for Team USA. Armstrong bested Russia's Olga Zabelinkaya and the Netherlands' Anna Van Der Breggen in the women's cycling individual time trial.
The United States men's water polo team beat France in match 18 in Group B of men's preliminary play.
Fiji knocked the United States men's rugby sevens team out of medal contention with a 24-19 victory in Pool A.
The women's basketball team edged Serbia 110-84. Diana Taurasi poured in 25 points for the United States. Brianna Stewart had 17 points and five rebounds in the victory.
Sam Dorman and Mike Hixon placed second for the silver medal in the men's synchronized 3-meter springboard diving final. Great Britain's Jack Laugher and Chris Mears won the gold medal, while China's Yuan Cao and Kai Qin claimed the bronze medal in that event.
American Daryl Homer won a silver medal after falling to Hungary's Aron Szilagyi in the men's sabre individual gold medal bout.
Beach volleyball icon Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross edged the Switzerland duo of Isabelle Forrer and Anouk Verge-Depre 2-1 in Pool C during preliminary play. Walsh Jennings and Ross advanced to the round of 16 with the victory.
American Josh Prenot fell in the men's 200-meter breaststroke final but still came away with a silver medal. Kazakhstan's Dmitriy Balandin swam 2:07.46 to take gold, while Russia's Anton Chupkov scored a bronze medal.
Australia's Kyle Chalmers won the gold medal in the men's 100-meter freestyle final, edging Belgium's Pieter Timmers and Team USA's Nathan Adrian.
Katie Ledecky won her third gold medal of the Summer Games to close out the night for the United States. Ledecky was the anchor for the gold-medal-winning women's 4x200-meter freestyle relay squad. Her final swim of 1:53.74 was the fastest for her team, who swam 7:44.87 to clinch the podium spot. Australia placed second and Canada took home the bronze medal.
"I had enough that I could get out and hug these guys," Ledecky told NBC's Michele Tafoya after the victory.
In Thursday action, Steve Johnson faces Russian Evgeny Donskoy at 11 a.m. in the third round of men's singles tennis. Madison Keys drew Russian Daria Kasatkina at 11 a.m. in the women's singles quarterfinal.
Venus Williams' and Rajeev Ram's battle with the Netherlands duo of Kiki Bertens and Jean-Julien Rojer has been rescheduled. Steve Johnson's and Jack Sock's men's doubles tennis semifinal against Romania's Florin Mergea and Horia Tecau was also rescheduled.
