US NBA stars, Spain capture openers

With Michelle Obama watching, Kevin Durant scored 22 points, grabbed 9 rebounds to lead Americans to a 98-71 win over France

I / London July 30, 2012, 15:21 IST

US NBA stars and European champions Spain each overcame slow starts to win their Olympic openers with ease, serving notice they remain the teams to beat in the fight to reach the gold medal game.

With US First Lady Michelle Obama among those watching, Kevin Durant scored 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead the Americans to a 98-71 win over France, with the US players adapting to more stringent officiating than found in the NBA.

"It seems like we get better as the game progresses," said US starting guard Chris Paul. "We have to get better at the start. We learned a lot of different things about how the game will be officiated. You have to adjust every game."

The US multi-millionaires' lineup, assembled just over three weeks ago, took time getting to grips with referee ideas over what was a violation, leading to some early foul woes before the NBA players found peak form in the second half.

"We were just trying to figure out how they were going to call the game," Carmelo Anthony said.

"Throughout the course of the game we had no clue. In the third quarter the whistle wasn't blowing as much. We were able to stop them."

Kevin Love added 14 points for the US while Kobe Bryant had 10 points. James and Carmelo Anthony each had nine as the Americans rose to 55-1 since revamping the team after taking bronze at the 2004 Olympics.

"We're not going to look great all the time because the rest of the world is that good," US coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "We're not going to assume anything. Hopefully the way we're playing will translate into a gold medal."

The Americans hope to simply put the polishing touches on their teamwork over the next week before the medal playoffs begin August 8.

"We're close," Durant said. "We still have a lot of work to do, but that's the beauty of it all. We're all coming together in such a short time."