Team USA entered their bout with Iran in the Tokyo Olympic Games with a sense of desperation to win. Losing to France in their opener shocked everyone because they have some of the best basketball players on their roster and are in the running to win their fourth consecutive gold medal at the Olympics. Thankfully, they finally see a ray of victory that has fans breathing sighs of relief. They are showing dominance throughout the game, with Jayson Tatum dropping his opponents to the floor as he makes his way to the rim.
Jayson Tatum finishing at the rim
Iran and the USA both entered this matchup after losing their first two games against the Czech Republic and France, respectively. If they want to ascent to the quarter-finals of the competition, they need to win all their other group-stage games. And with the way the match is playing out, the obvious win seems to be the USA’s.
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Finally, Team USA was scoring as expected but it was also their defensive intensity that kept their dominance intact. Zach LaVine, Kevin Durant, Damian Lillard, and Jrue Holiday were already up to double-digits by halftime. And even though Jayson Tatum was only up to 3 points, and played 7 minutes into the second quarter, he had some crazy plays.
With under 10 minutes left for the second half, the score was 30-15. Then came Tatum charging towards the rim while the Iran defender dropped to the floor and basket!
Moments later, he also had a beautiful but easy slam dunk against Iran, turning up the score to 51-18.
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Is there a chance Team USA will tank this?
At halftime, the USA has a 30 point lead with a scoring standing at 60-30. The way the USA is moving the ball tonight, it’s highly unlikely that they will finish on the losing end. Iran did show some talent in glimpses but they’re just not at par to compete with team USA.
This is the first step for the USA towards keeping its legacy intact. As long as they keep this form intact against any other team as well, winning all other group games, they should be good to go. Only a miracle can help Iran win this one.
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