LONDON, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- The Team USA beat Spain 107-100 to seize their 14th Olympic men's basketball title on Sunday, but a strong and intense challenge from Spain also illustrated the power of world No. 2.
The basketball final in London almost repeated the scenario four years ago in Beijing. The United States and Spain reached the final and the Americans won it all.
London is a stage for the Team USA as we saw more show time than contest except the group match against Lithuania (99-94) and the final duel with Spain. They demolished Nigeria by 83 points in group match and the 156 points scored from the U.S. set a new Olympic record in a single game.
Another African team Tunisia was not much better off, losing nearly 50 points.
Thanks to rosters pillared by NBA players, teams like Argentina, the 2004 Athens champions, and France managed to hold on for usually first half and controlled the deficit less than 30 points.
It's still quite hard for teams fighting against the U.S..
In quarterfinal, Australia suffered a defeat of 33 points and Argentina lost again to the defending champions by 26 points.
For the Beijing Olympics hosts, China had a disappointing journey here in London compared to the results of the previous two Olympics. China, who finished eighth in Athen 2004 and Beijing 2008, lost all five matches, averaging a 25-point deficit.
To China's lineup, the major change is Yao Ming, the former NBA Houston Rockets' center who retired last summer.
Without Yao, Chinese team just missed a pivot inside the paint, who can score easily in the lane and give solid defense around the rim. A five straight loss record will be reckoned as a failure for China, but considering it's a Yao-less roster, a qualification to the Olympics can be counted as an accomplishment.
Russia made a big step forward in London after they beat Argentina 81-77 to grab the bronze, lifting their position from ninth place four years ago to a medal.
Russia lost just one match in the preliminary round to Australia by two points. They tuned in to nail down a surprise victory over Spain 77-74 in group standings, but lost the quarterfinal to the Beijing silver medalists 59-67.
The rise of Russia can be rooted to their NBA-backed roster. Andrei Kirilenko has been playing in NBA for years and took the helm of Russia's Olympic basketball endeavor.
Timofey Mozgov joined the NBA in the last Olympic rotation, playing for Denver Nuggets after a season's stay in New York Knicks. Alexey Shved is set to play for Minnesota Timberwolves next season.
Argentina slided one place down to rank in fourth after the bronze match, but won their respect through a squad spanning three Olympics.
The all-NBA player squad, consisting of Luis Scola, Emanuel Ginobili, Carlos Delfino, Andres Nocioni and Fabricio Oberto, defeated the U.S. at Athens, winning their first Olympic gold medal in basketball.
Eight years later, it's still the same roster, without retired Oberto in an average of 32 years old. The fourth place is a position deserving all the applause.
Lithuania were the victims on Russia's way to emerging as they lost to Russia in the quarterfinal 74-83 and ranked eighth, four places down from Beijing.
Lithuania's roster lacks the depth and know-how of the previous one which racked up three bronzes and two fourth-place finishes in their first
five trips to the Olympics as an independent nation. The absence of perennial big man Robertas Javtokas was a big hit to Lithuania.
Brazil and France demonstrated their powers in London as both of them were ruled out of last Olympics, ranking in fifth and sixth place respectively.
Brazil boast bruising trio of NBA big men, Nene, Anderson Varejao and Tiago Splitter, their dynamic backcourt partnership boasting a supreme playmaker Marcelinho Huertas and a speedy finisher Leandro Barbosa.
France are in the midst of their most successful spell as a basketball country, but they don't pose the same threat with Joakim Noah absent because of a left ankle injury and Tony Parker sporting goggles after the nightclub incident that badly damaged his left eye.
Among the roster are NBA players Nicolas Batum, Boris Diaw, Ronny Turiaf.
Spain are the only team now, holding the talent of seven players with NBA experience and the expertise as the reigning European champions and 2006 world champions, to make trouble to the United States.
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