Kobe's team beats Pau's, U.S. wins, 119-82

BEIJING -- So what did you expect, for Pau Gasol to lead Spain on Saturday to a victory over Kobe Bryant and the United States at the Olympics?

Of course, you didn't. Some experts have predicted that Spain will win the silver medal here, and that might still be true, but the Spanish are not in the same league with the United States at these Games.

And if Spain can't stay on the court with the United States, who can?

The United States' next opponent, Germany, lost to China on Saturday, and you remember how the Chinese fared against the United States.

The United States beat Spain, 119-82, with LeBron James scoring 18 and Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony each scoring 16.

Gasol actually out-scored Bryant, 13-11. But Bryant spent much of the early part of the game on the bench in foul trouble. One of the more interesting moments of the first quarter came when he ran over Gasol while running through a screen.

Teammates? Not on this night.

-- Randy Harvey

Photo: Kobe Bryant shoots a jumper over Pau Gasol, his Laker teammate who is playing for Spain, during the U.S. team's 119-82 victory at the Olympics. Credit: Streeter Lecka / Getty Images

Comments

[Greece]

Greeks seem to think their national team was not playing full steam so that they can bird dog the US Team in the quarter/semi/finals etc.

Greeks tend to speak a lot of valueless trash talk about their teams, and even their journalists don't seem to have a handle on things either. After seeing them interview the US Coach after the defeat from the US Team, they forgot?? to translate the comment by the US coach that the Greek team just ran out of steam in the fourth quarter.

US All the way to gold and Greece back to the olive trees...