Written by Sam Amick at USAToday.com
Carmelo Anthony didn’t just become Team USA’s all-time leading scorer in the Olympics on Wednesday at Youth Arena. He saved the Americans from the kind of upset that would have tainted their gem of a program.
If they hadn’t downed Australia 98-88, overcoming this feisty team that got everyone’s attention in the first round with a blowout win over a favored France squad, the sterling shine would have been off. Instead, Anthony – the only four-time Olympian the men’s program has ever known and the only member of this team who was there the last time the Americans lost in Olympic play 12 years ago – added to his international legacy.
“I can tell you, I wasn’t thinking about (the loss to Argentina in) 2004 man,” Anthony said. “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.”
Did he ever.
This night that looked for a while to be nothing more than a novelty – the New York Knicks star passing LeBron James as the all-time American leading scorer in American Olympics history en route to an expected win – eventually became one of Anthony’s most memorable performances in any jersey. Anthony, who finished with a game-high 31 points on 11 of 21 shooting, hit three three-pointers in a little more than two minutes midway through the fourth quarter to put the Americans up 83-76 with 5:32 remaining.
The Cleveland Cavaliers’ Kyrie Irving took over from there, with no shot bigger than his three-pointer from the right wing with 1:35 left that put the Americans up 93-86. Irving, who is from Australia and even considered playing for their national team in his earlier years, finished with 19 points and five assists.
To continue reading this article, click here.
