Rio 2016 Olympics – Day 1 Recap

By Bradley Gains on August 7, 2016

Image Credit: FIBA

The men’s basketball tournament at the 2016 Olympics in Rio began yesterday with Group A action including the heavily favoured USA team.

Here’s a brief recap on what went down on Day 1:

Australia v France

A statement win for the Boomers as a strong second half display saw them power past EuroBasket 2013 winners, France, with an 87-66 victory. Australia were led by Patty Mills’ 21 points with a further 18 from Andrew Bogut on 9-of-10 shooting in an impressive display. Their opponents were out of sorts and the gap may have been larger had it not been for a 17-point second quarter from Tony Parker, who finished with 18, to see his side head into half-time only down three. The Aussies racked up 51 points in the second half to complete an emphatic opening win.

Box score.

China v USA

As expected, a dominant victory for USA as they put on the style with a comprehensive 119-62 win against China. Kevin Durant led an extremely stacked roster with 25 points, while DeMarcus Cousins added 17 points and NBA London 2017-bound Paul George had 15 with all 12 players on the scoresheet. Yi Jianlian – who was the sixth overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft – led the futile Chinese resistance with an equal game-high of 25 points – exactly four years following their last Olympic appearance which happened to be GB’s only victory at London 2012.

Box score.

Venezuela v Serbia

The final game in the very early hours of the morning saw Serbia secure a convincing 86-62 victory over Venezuela. Bogdan Bogdanovic and Maroslav Raduljica combined for 37 points for the victors as they began to storm clear in the second with a 26-9 period. Venezuela were expected to have a tough time in Rio, particularly having lost key guard Greivis Vasquez prior to the tournament and things don’t get any easier as they play the US in their second game. Serbia only won the second half by three, but will take plenty of confidence into their next encounter with Australia.

Box score.

Women’s results:
France 55-39 Turkey; Australia 84-66 Brazil; Japan 77-73 Belarus (Group A)
Canada 90-68 China (Group B)

The schedule for Day 2 is as follows as Group B gets underway:

Day 2: Sunday 7th August
4.00pm—1.30am – Women’s preliminary rounds: USA v Senegal (4.00pm); Serbia v Spain (6.15pm); Australia v Turkey (9.30pm); France v Belarus (11.45pm)

6.15pm—4.15am – Men’s preliminary rounds: Brazil v Lithuania (6.15pm); Croatia v Spain (11.00pm); Nigeria v Argentina (2.30am)

Full schedule here.

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