US rewrites record book as Spain, Russia advance

I / London August 03, 2012, 11:00 IST

United States NBA stars shattered the Olympic single-game scoring record, producing one of the greatest shooting performances in basketball history in a 156-73 rout of Nigeria.

On a day when Spain and Russia clinched berths in the medal playoffs with thrilling victories and France and Argentina took big steps toward reaching the quarter-finals with triumphs, the American multi-millionaires stole the show.

Carmelo Anthony scored 37 points, the most by any American player in Olympic history in a game, and the New York Knicks' playmaker's 10-of-12 3-point shooting was also a US Olympic mark.

"When they shoot like this, I don't know if there is any team that can beat them," Nigeria's Ike Diogu said.

The old Olympic record for points by a team in one game was set by Brazil in 1988 at Seoul in a 138-85 preliminary round triumph over Egypt.

"It's a great achievement to get that record," Anthony said. "Any time you have a chance to reach a milestone, you have to take advantage of it."

The Americans also eclipsed their own Olympic team record for points in a game, set in a 133-70 victory over China in 1996 at Atlanta.

Russell Westbrook added 21 points and Kobe Bryant had 16 on a night when every US player scored and the team hit 59-of-83 from the field, a team Olympic record 71 percent of its shots, including 29-of-46 from 3-point range.

"Just an incredible shooting performance," US coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "We just shot better in a game than any team I have ever coached."