There's something about playing on Team USA that suits Carmelo Anthony perfectly. It could be having the pressure off to shoulder 100 percent of the load, it could be the plethora of open looks, it could be playing with his good friend LeBron James, but whatever it is, it works for him. He was the key to an explosive third quarter of three-point shooting, one in which Team USA took control after only leading by seven at halftime, and the U.S. ran away with the victory, 109-83, and will face Spain in the gold medal game Sunday.
Anthony scored 18, almost all in the second half, LeBron James also scored 18 and was the constant dominant force through four quarters, and Kevin Durant led the scoring with 19. The team distributed the ball phenomenally well — James and Chris Paul had seven assists apiece and Deron Williams had six — and Kevin Love did the dirty work inside with nine rebounds.
This iteration of the Dream Team struggled from the three-point line in the first half — they shot 5-17 — but decided they would remedy that by shooting more, attempting 25 three-pointers in the second half, making 13 of them, slightly more than 50 percent. This isn't the first time they've had a bad shooting half in the Olympics, but every time they've managed to heat up in the other half and it hasn't been a problem for a victory, nor should it be against Spain.
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