LONDON (AP) ― All’s fine with Kobe Bryant, and the gold medal hopes of the U.S. men’s Olympic basketball team, too.
Bryant silenced his critics and broke open a tight game with six straight 3-pointers in the second half Wednesday night as the Americans advanced to the semifinals of the London Games with a 119-86 victory over Australia.
On a night when LeBron James had a triple-double, the story was Bryant’s awakening from his Olympic slumber. The five-time NBA champion scored 20 points, flashing three fingers in the air after his third consecutive 3-pointer in the fourth quarter had pushed the game well out of reach and proved that, yes, he would deliver the kind of game that’s expected of him in London.
“I kind of knew what button to push with him. I was talking to him at halftime and in the third quarter and I guess I pushed the button. He woke up and to see that, I’ve been on the other side of the ball and had that situation before,” teammate Carmelo Anthony said.
James finished with 11 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists for the Americans, who advanced to their third straight Olympic semifinal meeting with Argentina, which beat Brazil earlier Wednesday. Deron Williams added 18 points, Anthony had 17 and Kevin Durant 14.
The Americans beat the Argentines 126-97 on Monday in the final game of pool play, yet another night they didn’t need much from Bryant, who came in averaging just 9.4 points and hearing whispers that something must be wrong with him, though both he and his teammates kept assuring people there was no problem.
This time was different, and he delivered.
“He was a little sleepy out there,” Anthony said. “I guess I woke up the Mamba and he responded.”
Australia scored the first 11 points of the second half, cutting the Americans’ lead to three after back-to-back 3-pointers by Joe Ingles. The U.S. lead was only six before Bryant, who has never gotten in an offensive rhythm in London and just minutes earlier had committed another puzzling offensive foul, finally broke out.
May-Treanor, Walsh win in beach volleyball LONDON (AP) ― Misty May-Treanor danced on the sand and then off it, leaving Horse Guards Parade with Kerri Walsh Jennings and a third gold medal.
Playing in the Summer Games together for the last time, the twice-defending champions extended their unbeaten streak to 21 in a row ― through Athens, Beijing and now London ― by defeating Jennifer Kessy and April Ross 21-16, 21-16 in an all-American final on Wednesday night.
The match started with nearby Big Ben pealing the hour and ended with the “Star-Spangled Banner” rising from the iconic venue in the prime minister’s backyard, just down the mall from the royal residence at Buckingham Palace. Playing on Henry VIII’s former jousting tiltyard, with the current Prince Harry in the crowd, Walsh Jennings and May-Treanor continued their reign as champions of the beach.
Obara wins Olympic wrestling gold
LONDON (AP) ― Hitomi Obara of Japan won her first Olympic gold medal in women’s 48-kilogram freestyle wrestling Wednesday, rallying to beat Mariya Stadnyk of Azerbaijan 0-4, 1-0, 2-0.
Obara has won six world titles at 51 kilograms, a non-Olympic weight, and took the last two world titles at 48 kilograms. Stadnyk, the bronze medalist in Beijing, also lost to Obara in the 2011 world championship final.
Carol Huynh of Canada and Clarissa Chun of the United States won bronze, with Chun giving the U.S. its first wrestling medal of the London Games.
Aussies sail laps of honor to take gold
WEYMOUTH, England (AP) ― Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen of Australia sailed three laps of honor Wednesday to collect their Olympic gold medals in the 49er skiff class.
The boyhood mates from Wangi Wangi in New South Wales had clinched the gold medal on points Monday, the same day countryman Tom Slingsby won gold in the Laser. They still had to make a “genuine effort” to get around the course Wednesday in light conditions.
koreaherald@heraldcorp.com
