USA Basketball Wins Gold, Edges Spain

In a thrilling Gold Medal game between the United States and Spain in men's basketball, Team USA struggled to build a big lead, and just hung on for the win.

Kevin Durant led the team in scoring with 30 points, and LeBron James added 19, but the Americans struggled all game long to generate turnovers and fast break points against the very disciplined Spanish squad, which was led by Pau Gasol, who had 24 points. In addition to the Spanish big men, which also included a good contribution off the bench from Serge Ibaka when Marc Gasol got into foul trouble, the Americans had trouble all game long with the Spanish guards.

Juan Carlos Navarro dropped in 24 for Spain, which only trailed by one point headed into the 4th quarter. But Team USA increased the defensive pressure in the final period, holding Spain to just 18 points, and LeBron James took over, with a dunk and a three to increase the American lead to 9 points, with 1:59 to play.

For head coach Mike Krzyzewski, the win capped off a 7-year reign as US coach, which saw him turn around a team which won bronze in Athens in 2004 to back to back golds in Beijing and London.