US romp

Basketball: Full of new star power, the US men’s basketball team opened its bid for a third straight Olympic gold medal with a 111-74 exhibition romp over Argentina yesterday (NZT). A US team that hasn’t lost a game in 10 years had little trouble with Argentina, which some consider a medal contender in Rio. Paul George scored 14 first-half points, Kevin Durant added 12, and the US blew open the game early before an appreciative crowd on the Las Vegas Strip. Even with Kobe Bryant retired and LeBron James taking this Olympics off, there was no real talent drop-off on a team heavily favoured to win gold once again. The depth of the US showed as coach Mike Krzyzewski rotated players.