Venezuela fought valiantly, but it was only enough to keep them close for a quarter-and-a-half. After struggling to get going, Team USA eventually found its groove and followed up their 57-point rout of China with a 113-69 win over Venezuela. The Americans move to 2-0 against Group A in the 2016 Olympic Games.
DeAndre Jordan had 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting and grabbed 11 rebounds while Paul George had 20 points. Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony added 16 and 14 points, respectively. A matchup against 2-0 Australia looms on Wednesday in Rio. John Cox, who is a cousin of Kobe Bryant, had 19 points for Venezuela in the loss.
Durant scored the team's first seven points, but Team USA had a sloppy first quarter and a pesky Venezuelan team wouldn't fall over. They clawed their way into a dogfight against the Americans, taking a 14-13 lead at one point and ending the quarter tied at 18 against the best team in the world.
The blowout that seemed eminent took a while to get going -- the Americans had turned the ball over eight times and had only built up a four-point lead midway through the second quarter. Then the gong finally went off. Durant made two free throws to give the US a six-point lead -- its biggest of the game at that point -- then Anthony stuck a three, and the US never looked back. All told, a 24-4 run blew the game open and the US led 48-26 at the half.
Venezuela wouldn't let the US completely run away with it, losing the third quarter by only two points, but Team USA blew it open again and coasted to an easy win in the fourth. They've won both games by an average of 50.5 points.
