USA is doing what they do best. WIN.

USA were 35-point favorites going into their bout with Venezuela. At the end of the 1st quarter, you would think this game had the possibility of going to the wire. The 1st quarter was filled with sloppy play by the Americans, and the Venezuelans took every opportunity. Team USA could not hold onto the ball and the refs were calling this one tight. DeMarcus Cousins and Kyrie Irving got into early foul trouble and the United States were within the penalty after the first three minutes of play.

Thanks to magnificent free throw shooting and scrappy defense, Venezuela was tied with the Olympic favorites after 1, but the second quarter was not favorable for the South American squad. The second quarter feature a barrage of threes and dominance by the American squad behind great shooting of Paul George and Kevin Durant. Venezuela was outscored 30-8 in the second and things were not looking up for the underdog.

The United States did not let their foot off of the gas in the second half. Bucket after bucket, dunk after dunk, the US showed no mercy for the scrappy Venezuela team. The final score was United States 113 Venezuela 69.

Paul George led all scorers with 20 points on 6/7 shooting. Jimmy Butler and Kevin Durant followed with 17 and 16 points respectively. Venezuela's leading scorer was Kobe Bryant's cousin, John Cox with 19 points on 6 of 20 shooting.

United States will play Australia, Wednesday August 10, 2016 at 5 PM CT.