The United States Men’s basketball team, dubbed the Redeem Team, captured the Olympic gold medal for basketball yesterday, defeating Spain 118-107 in a tightly-contested and high-scoring game (replay).

The 2008 US National Team has shunned any comparisons to the iconic Dream Team, and ironically, they’re probably the closest thing to the 1992 team in terms of dominating the competition.  Coming into the final game with Spain, the USA had defeated teams by an average of just over 30 points a game.

The win placed the USA back on top of the basketball world, but the game also showed why Spain is considered one of the tournament favorites, and basketball powerhouse, as they played a composed game, withstood the American’s defensive pressure, and fought hard for 40 minutes before finally succumbing by eleven points, which is the lowest victory of margin for the Americans during the Beijing Olympics.

Quarter-by-Quarter Breakdown:
First Period: Other than the 17-year old Ricky Rubio starting in place of the injured Jose Calderon, there weren’t any significant changes in the starting lineups.

LeBron James started out the game with a long three pointer for the United States, and was immediately answered by a Pau Gasol’s three point play on Spain’s first play.  The two teams would exchange leads throughout the beginning of the game before Spain took one-point lead after a Carlos Jimenez three pointer to make it 10-9 Spain.

The Spanish were able to maintain a slim lead throughout the next four minutes and would take a 5 point lead after free throw by Juan Carlos Navarro.  The United States would then outscore Spain 21-9 to finish out the first quarter, to take a 38-31 lead.  Dwyane Wade scored eight points during their run and led the United States in scoring with twelve first quarter points.

The second period starts out with five straight points from Kobe Bryant, which pushes the United States’ lead to 13.  Critical time for Spain because with a couple key mistakes, this could be when the United States goes on one of their runs that takes the spirit out of their opponents.

But the Spanish would remain strong with a Marc Gasol basket, a Rudy Fernandez three, and a couple free throws from Ricky Rubio that puts the Spanish within striking distance again.  Spain would close the lead to six twice in the period, but wouldn’t get any closer than that.

USA goes into halftime with an eight-point lead 69-61, thanks to Dwyane Wade’s 21 points and 10 points from Chris Paul.  Spain’s Rudy Fernandez, who will play for Portland in the NBA, came alive with 11 points in the period, including three three-pointers.  Pau Gasol added 9 points.

Third Period: Spain took advantage of four USA turnovers in the first few minutes and uses a 10-6 run, with four points each from Felipe Reyes and Juan Carlos Navaroo, to start the third period.

The run brings the lead down to just four points, 75-71, and prompts the USA to call a timeout.

The two teams would exchange buckets before the US eventually builds the lead to 11 before Juan Carlos Navarro strikes at the buzzer with one of his patented runners to make it a nine-point lead going into the final quarter.  Navarro goes for four field goals and eight points in the quarter and Carmelo Anthony hits six points for the USA.

Fourth period: Spain is down nine, but they use a 7-0 run out of the gate with two straight buckets from Pau Gasol, and a three from Rudy Fernandez to cut the United States’ lead to just two, 91-89 with a little over eight minutes remaining in the game.  This mini-run prompts another US timeout.

Coming out of the timeout, the USA answers Spain’s 7-0 run with one of their own; Kobe hit a tough jumper in the lane, a Deron Williams three, and a Dwight Howard dunk, both off Bryant assists.   The lead is back up to nine, at 98-89.

Rudy Fernandez would break Spain’s drought with another three, but Kobe would answer with a three pointer of his own.  After a LeBron James putback of his own miss, Fernandez runs a pick-and-roll with Pau Gasol.  Dwight Howard switches out on Rudy after the supposedly great-defender Kobe Bryant goes for a steal.  Rudy looks left takes one hard dribble, takes two long steps with Dwight Howard trailing, and puts down a spectacular one-hand dunk with Howard in tow.  And one.

After the free throw, the lead is back down to eight, 103-95.  Pau Gasol would hit for four points on Spain’s next two trips to cut the lead to five, 104-99.

On the following USA possession, Kobe Bryant hits a long-three and is fouled by Rudy Fernandez.  Not only would Bryant convert the free-throw for a rare four point play, Rudy Fernandez would commit his fifth foul on the play, and was disqualified from the game.

And even with the lead back up to nine with just over three minutes left, Spain still had more fight in them.

Spain would score the next five points with a Juan Carlos Navaroo runner and a Carlos Jimenez three cutting the lead back down to four, 108-104.

And again the USA would counter.  Dwyane Wade would hit his fourth and final three-pointer on the next possession to push the lead back up to seven with just over two minutes remaining.

Spain would miss their next three shots and wouldn’t get any closer than six.  With 34 seconds left, Marc Gasol would follow up a miss by his brother to make the score 115-107 and USA bench was already celebrating, knowing that the game was all but over.

The final score, 118-107, was not indicative of how close the game really was as technical fouls against Spain’s bench and Rubio padded the final score.

Respect for the Both Teams
After the game, there was respect for both teams for what they had just accomplished.

“Every possession counted.  You couldn’t take one second off. Much respect for Spain” LeBron James said shaking his head as if the USA had lost the game “Spain was unbelieveable.”

“It has been a very beautiful game to play,” said Spain’s Pau Gasol. “It’s a pity because we came mighty close. We never backed down and played a tough game. I think this final game says a lot about what team we are and how we deserve to be in this position.  We should be very proud of what we have accomplished here.”

“Spain was fabulous. Everything we did, we tried to stop them, we couldn’t stop them completely and it was a great basketball game where everybody involved played at the highest level,” said US Coach Mike Krzyzewski. “It brought out the best in us. We played with great character in one of the great games of international basketball history.”

Gold Medal Game Recap, Facts, & Stats
The USA used great shooting from the three-point line. hitting a US Olympic record 13 threes at a 46% clip (13-28 including four threes from Dwyane Wade, who led the US in scoring with 27 points and 4 steals.  Kobe Bryant added 20 points, 6 assists and played a significant role in withstanding Spain’s comeback in the fourth quarter.

Lebron James scored 14 and grabbed 6 rebounds.  Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul each scored 13 points.  Paul added a team-high 5 assists.

Rudy Fernandez led Spain in scoring with 22 points, Pau Gasol put up 21 points and 6 rebounds.  Juan Carlos Navarro added 18 points and 4 assist.  Carlos Jimenez chipped in with 13 points.

Pau Gasol’s brother Marc, who will join Fernandez as an NBA rookie next year, scored 11 points and pulled down 5 rebounds.

Ricky Rubio totaled 6 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals in helping to fill the point guard void left by the injured Jose Calderon.  With his silver medal, Rubio became the youngest basketball player ever to win a gold medal, beating out the legendary USSR center, Vladimir Tatchenko, who won a bronze in the 1976 Olympics.

USA Basketball has put together a 96% winning percentage, with a 122-5 record, and have now medaled in every Olympic basketball competition they have particiapted in. Including these Olympics, the USA has 13 gold medals, one silver (1972) and two bronzes (1988, 2004).

Links and Resources: Americans overcome battling Spain to win gold medal (FIBA), USA Men Fight Off Spain To Claim 118-107 Win And Olympic Gold Medal (USA Basketball), USA vs. Spain Replay (Interbasket), 2008 Olympic Men’s Basketball Tournament Results (USA Basketball), USA-Spain Play by Play and Boxscore (NBC Olympics), Images in this article are courtesy of Gettys Images.