Kevin Durant did most of the heavy lifting for the United States and
LeBron James put the finishing touches on a 107-100 win over Spain in
the gold-medal game of the mens basketball tournament at the London 2012
Olympic Games.
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The Spaniards gave the Americans a fight they had not run into in London
right from the opening whistle.
Early in the game, it was all Juan-Carlos Navarro for Spain, as the
streaky gunner went off for 14 points over the opening 10 minutes.
Despite Navarros impressive start, the Americans were even hotter,
shooting 7-of-10 from long range to build an early 35-27 lead.
Spain opened the second quarter with a 7-0 run to even the score before
James stopped the run with a monstrous dunk.
The Americans calling card all tournament has been their ability to hit
the three-point shot and they cooled off in the second quarter, going
1-of-8, to allow Spain to stay in the game. At the half, the Americans
lead was just a single point.
The Spaniards turned their attention to their inside advantage in the
third quarter, giving plenty of touches to Pau Gasol and Serge Ibaka .
Gasol scored Spains first 13 points on his way to a 15-point quarter.
But despite the impressive run by the Los Angeles Lakers centre, Durant
and Kobe Bryant were also strong and the Americans hung onto their
one-point lead on the cusp of the final quarter.
Durant scored 30 points to finish as the highest-American scorer at an
Olympics, after totaling 156 points over the course of the London Games.
"We have a lot of NBA champs on this team," Durant said. "I just tried
to hit some shots in the second half."
While Durant and Bryant carried the load for the Americans for three
quarters, the game became the LeBron James Show in the fourth quarter.
With the Americans holding a narrow lead with three minutes to play and
James in foul trouble, he went on a tear, with a massive dunk and a
three-pointer to create a nine-point gap between the two sides. Spain
was unable to recover.
"I just wanted to make an imprint on the game," the Miami Heat star
said. "I wasnt going to leave home with those four fouls."
James had 19 points, seven rebounds and four assists to help the
American cause as capped off a terrific year. He became the second
player behind Michael Jordan to to win the NBA title, regular-season
MVP, NBA Finals MVP and Olympic gold in the same year.
Bryant would finish with 17 points in his last Olympic Games.
"This it for me. I feel very fortunate to go to the Olympics twice and
it give a go," Bryant said. "I feel very lucky. It was nice to come here
in the twilight of my career."
Gasol would finish with 24 for Spain and Navarro finished with 21 as
they would finish with the silver for the second consecutive Olympic
Games.
"Its a bittersweet feeling.Obviously, theres great pride and
satisfaction from winning an Olympic medal,but we were close again
against this team of excellent players," Gasol said. "You have to have
pretty much a perfect game to be able to beat them. Im proud of our
spirit and how close we were."
. 1 Jelena Jankovic highlighted Mondays opening-round winners at the $2 million Dubai Duty Free Championships.
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Brian McNamee was on the stand Thursday for a fourth day in the perjury
trial of the seven-time Cy Young Award-winning pitcher, holding firm to
his testimony that he injected Clemens with steroids from 1998 to 2001
and human growth hormone in 2000.
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In other moves Tuesday, they activated outfielder Daniel Nava and
reliever Vicente Padilla from the disabled list and optioned third
baseman Danny Valencia to Triple-A Pawtucket.
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Sergei Kostitsyn scored twice as the Canadiens won their season-high
fifth straight by downing the Boston Bruins 3-2 on Saturday night.
. Both teams have had exceptional runs so far in the playoffs and now
the great test of who gets to represent the conference with a chance to
win a title in the NBA Finals in June.MINNEAPOLIS -- The Minnesota
Vikings have dumped another veteran starter, releasing nose tackle
Remi Ayodele one unproductive season into a three-year contract.
The timing of Wednesdays move was curious, if coincidental, coming hours
after the NFLs announcement of fines and suspensions for New Orleans
Saints officials for their roles in the bounty program that rewarded
players financially for trying to injure opponents.
Ayodele won a Super Bowl with the Saints at the end of the 2009 season
and played three years for them before signing with the Vikings. The
league has yet to issue discipline for specific players involved in the
bounty program.
The Vikings also agreed to terms with Carolina offensive lineman
Geoff Schwartz, re-signed backup defensive tackle Fred Evans and signed
running back Lex Hilliard on a busy, if not particularly splashy, day.
Ayodele was given a $3.565 million signing bonus to replace aging
stalwart Pat Williams in the middle of the line, but he managed only 15
tackles and 1 1/2 sacks despite playing in all 16 games last season. The
28-year-old was set up for base salaries of $2.2 million in both the
2012 and 2013 seasons.
Vikings officials were travelling and unavailable for comment.
Schwartz agreed to terms on a one-year deal two days after visiting
Vikings headquarters. He also visited the San Francisco 49ers and had
discussions with the Detroit Lions.
The 25-year-old spent his first three seasons with the Panthers. He made
19 starts in his first two seasons when Jeff Davidson -- Minnesotas
offensiive line coach -- coached him with the Panthers. .
But he missed all of last year with a hip injury, joining tight end
John Carlson as free agent acquisitions by the Vikings who did not play
in 2011 because of injuries.
In Minnesota, Schwartz will likely compete with Joe Berger for the
starting right guard spot on the teams revamped offensive line. The
Vikings released veteran guards Steve Hutchinson and Anthony Herrera
earlier this month.
"Minnesota presented a great opportunity for me. Im excited to help them
win," Schwartz said on Wednesday night.
Holding the No. 3 pick in the draft, the Vikings are widely expected to
take USC offensive tackle Matt Khalil and start him on quarterback
Christian Ponders blind side at left tackle. Under that scenario,
veteran Charlie Johnson would move from left tackle to left guard to
replace Hutchinson, and either Berger or Schwartz could start at right
guard in between centre John Sullivan and tackle Phil Loadholt.
Evans has seen spot duty at both defensive tackle spots since joining
the team in 2007. Evans played in all 16 games last year and had 22
tackles. Vikings general manager Rick Spielman knows Evans from their
days together in Miami in 2006. Another versatile backup defensive
tackle, Letroy Guion, was re-signed earlier this week.
Hilliard spent the last three seasons with the Dolphins, rushing for 41
yards and a touchdown in 2011. He played in college at Montana. The
Vikings currently have 60 players under contract for 2012.
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