By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Team USA’s men’s basketball team is off to the Olympic quarterfinals after a demolition job on Czech Republic, 119-84.
It was not the ideal start head coach Gregg Popovich wanted from his team as the Czechs got off to a great start with an early 10-point lead.
NBA guard Tomas Satoransky was giving USA a hard time as the tall guard scored his usual post-ups against the smaller Devin Booker and Damian Lillard.
The size advantage the Czechs had over the Americans also became a problem in the first minutes of the game as they just attacked the US interior and scored half of their first half points from there.
However, soon as the second quarter began, team USA again went berserk and shot the lights out, outscoring the Czechs 29-18 led by Kevin Durant.
Durant, who finished the game with 23 points, only missed three of his 11 field goal attempts and spearheaded the USA onslaught in the second frame.
Team USA suddenly became a different beast and caught fire entering the second half, pouring in 72 points in 20 minutes to leave the Czechs completely in the dust.
Jayson Tatum also broke out of his shooting slump in the Olympics after carrying USA’s offensive load in the fourth quarter.
Tatum’s insane shooting spree helped him reach the 27-point mark topped with two blocks, two rebounds and was the highest scorer of the game.
Team USA’s victory helped them qualify for the quarterfinal round of the men’s basketball, finishing first round with a 2-1 record.
