USA's 'redeem team' win basketball gold in Beijing
Sunday, 24 Aug 2008 10:12
The American fans were pleased to see their big stars win gold
America have recaptured the men's Olympic basketball title, having slipped to the bronze medal four years ago, beating Spain 118-107 in the final.
In a reference to the original 'Dream Team' from the 1992 Games when NBA stars first played, the team in China was nicknamed the 'redeem team' due to their failure in Athens.
This time the American stars did not disappoint with Miami Heat's Dwayne Wade (27) and Kobe Bryant (20) of the LA Lakers leading the scoring.
Guard Rudy Fernandez of the Portland Trailblazers kept Spain in the contest by scoring 22 points and the underdogs closed to within two points in the fourth quarter.
However, the US were able to sink their free throws and pulled away in the latter part of the match to seal a comfortable 11-point win.
Argentina claimed the bronze medal with an 87-75 victory over Lithuania despite being without star player Manu Ginobili.
Ginobili injured his ankle in the warm-up and was unable to play. However, the Chicago Bulls' Carlos Delfino stepped up and scored 20 points to guide Argentina to victory.