CHN/USA – Americans win over China in thrilling Olympic encounter

BEIJING (Olympics) – Yao Ming and China provided plenty of thrills but they were powerless to stop a US onslaught on Sunday.

Dwyane Wade poured in 19 points and LeBron James 18 as the United States, one of the leading contenders for the gold medal at the Beijing Games, won 101-70.

“It was a difficult game against them,” China coach Jonas Kazlauskas said to FIBA.com. “The conditioning level is not the same. There is a very big difference individually.”

With President George W Bush and his father, former President George Bush, looking on from the stands, an electric Chinese crowd cheered for China but was also very enthusiastic about the USA’s NBA superstars as well.

China were excellent in the first half and were level at 29-29 four minutes into the second quarter following a three-pointer from Sun Yue.

The US then shifted their game into a higher gear and outscored China 20-8 up to half-time for a 49-37 advantage.

China tried to stay within striking distance but the US closed the third quarter on a 9-0 run and went into the fourth with a 74-48 lead.

They led by as many as 35 before settling for the 31-point triumph.

The USA have talked repeatedly about their emphasis on defensive excellence. Chris Bosh, who has been praised by coach Mike Krzyzewski for his defense, had three of the USA’s 14 steals while James led the team by swatting three shots.

“I thought we played well,” Bosh said. “We came out a little tight. We knew it was going to be a very emotional game for both teams, especially for China because they were playing in front of their home crowd.

“We withstood the storm, we calmed down and we played a lot better basketball.”

The US shot 38 of 70 (54%) from the floor compared to China’s 23 of 68 for (34%).

China had 18 turnovers to just 12 for the USA.

Yao, still a long way from being fully fit after having an operation for a stress fracture in his foot, scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

"It’s not about Yao improving,” Kazlauskas said. “Yao, it’s good to have him anytime. Every day for him, it gets better and better.”

As for the rest of their Group B clashes, the China coach added: “This game is really different to what we’ll have in our coming games. Speed, rebounding – it’s many things we have learned from these guys.”

Sun, the Los Angeles Lakers revealed earlier in the day, had agreed to general terms on a contract with the NBA club.

The Lakers said they “hope to finalize the terms and formally sign Sun soon” in a statement on their website.

FIBA