MEN'S BASKETBALL

UNITED STATES 113, VENEZUELA 69

RIO DE JANEIRO -- Red, white and blase for one quarter, the United States Olympic men's basketball team woke up and won with ease.

Shaking off a sluggish, sloppy start and maybe some Brazilian boredom, the Americans regrouped in the second quarter and romped over Venezuela 113-69 on Monday, taking another step toward a possible third consecutive gold medal.

Kevin Durant scored 16 points and Carmelo Anthony 14 for the U.S. squad, which may have grown a touch overconfident following a 57-point blowout of China in its tournament opener.

The Americans were tied 18-18 after one quarter, but turned up their defensive intensity, outscored Venezuela 30-8 in the second quarter and improved to 82-1 under Coach Mike Krzyzewski.

"I think once we settled down, made our adjustments to the way they were calling the game, the way that Venezuela wanted to play the game, that second quarter we picked it up defensively and turned it around," Anthony said.

It was similar to the meeting between the teams in Chicago on July 29, when the U.S. shot poorly and still won by 35 on their pre-Rio exhibition tour. Maybe this was a reminder that no team can be taken lightly -- and there is little margin for error -- once the Olympic flame is ignited.

"The game of basketball, everything's not going to be easy," Durant said. "We know that, even with this great team."

The Americans continue pool play on Wednesday against unbeaten Australia. The Aussies, featuring five NBA players, four of them league champions, improved to 2-0 on Monday with an impressive 95-80 victory over Serbia. Australia has never won an Olympic medal in men's basketball.

Anthony, the four-team Olympian and two-time gold medalist playing in his record 25th game for the United States, provided a much-needed spark in the second quarter.

With the Americans leading just 28-22 and looking anything but golden, Anthony came across the lane and stripped the ball away from Venezuelan center Gregory Echenique and passed it to Kyrie Irving. Anthony then trailed Irving up the floor, accepted a feed on the wing and knocked down a three-pointer that lifted some of the pressure -- and fog -- off Team USA.

Anthony moved past Michael Jordan on the U.S. career scoring list and now only trails LeBron James and David Robinson.

Paul George scored 20 and Jimmy Butler 17 -- most of them coming in extended garbage time -- in the first Olympic matchup between the nations.

Venezuela's John Cox, a cousin of American superstar Kobe Bryant, scored 19 and Echenique 18.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

U.S. women romp

RIO DE JANEIRO -- Diana Taurasi scored 13 points and Sylvia Fowles added 12 on Monday as the U.S. women's basketball team posted their second blowout in as many days, beating Spain 103-63 on Monday.

That's two consecutive contests the U.S. scored at least 100 points -- the last time the Americans did that was in 2004.

Bird added nine points and five assists.

The Americans (2-0) had a team-record 36 assists in the opening victory. They followed that up with 23 against Spain.

The victory was the 43rd consecutive for the U.S. in the Olympics. The contest was a rematch of the 2014 world championship gold medal game that the Americans won by 13. While this victory didn't come in the same record fashion the U.S. opened the Olympics with when it beat Senegal by 65 points, the Americans coasted after the first few minutes.

Alba Torrens, who the Connecticut Sun have the rights to in the WNBA, led Spain (1-1) with 20 points.

Sports on 08/09/2016