Team USA Barely Beats Spain

At the 2008 Olympics, Team USA was a machine. This year’s squad is smaller, less skilled and less experienced … and thus, much less dominant. That lack of domination was apparent on Sunday when the United States barely got past Spain by a final score of 86-85. Kevin Durant and Derrick Rose made big plays down the stretch after Spain had taken an 82-80 lead.

Durant led Team USA with 25 points, who played this exhibition game in Spain. Next, the squad heads to Athens to play the Greece national team.

Despite the close call, the Americans were happy with their play.

Said Durant: “It was one of those games that was a learning experience for us and I think we made key plays down the stretch. We also played as a team and stuck through tough times.”

Spain, who is considered one of the top three basketball teams in the world, has a number of NBA-quality players. Juan Carlos Navarro led the way for Spain with 20 points, while Marc Gasol totaled 17 points and six rebounds. Rudy Fernandez, Jose Calderon, Ricky Rubio, Fran Vazquez, Jorge Garbajosa and Sergio Llull are other players on Spain that NBA fans are familiar with.

Kevin Durant - Team USA (Image: TSN.ca)