Associated Press
BEIJING ó LeBron James and his teammates easily shoved Angola aside. Now come the teams that can push back.
Dwyane Wade scored 19 points, James dominated the game with his size and strength on both ends, and the U.S. Olympic team wrapped up the easy portion of its schedule with a 97-76 victory Tuesday night.
Dwight Howard added 14 points and James finished with 12 for the Americans, who had another rough night from 3-point range but don’t appear to be stoppable in the open court. Wade was perfect from the field in Beijing until missing in the third quarter.
The United States improved to 4-0 against Angola, starting with the Dream Team’s Olympic debut in 1992. That romp is best remembered for Charles Barkley’s elbow to an unsuspecting Angolan player in a 116-48 victory.
Angola went down almost as easily this time.
The Americans (2-0) moves on to face Greece, the team that stunned them two years ago in the semifinals of the world championship.
MEN’S GYMNATICS
The Chinese were supposed to win. The Americans weren’t even necessarily supposed to be in the finals, not after losing Paul and Morgan Hamm to injuries in the 10 days before the Olympics.
When the final standings popped up ó and the U.S. was behind China and Japan but ahead of Germany ó Jonathan Horton screamed: “Nobody believed in us! Nobody believed in us.”
SOFTBALL
Four no-hit innings from the starter. An inside-the-park home run and two of the over-the-fence variety. A record number of runs ending things after five innings.
Yep, the Americans are back to their old tricks on the softball diamond, beating Venezuela 11-0 for their 15th straight Olympic victory.
TENNIS
Serena won. Venus won. Then, they won together ó three victories in one day for the Williams sisters.
Each swept their way into the third round in singles, then together knocked off a Czech duo in doubles.
In men’s singles, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal both advanced with ease.
BOXING
Rau’Shee Warren worked four years to become the first two-time American boxing Olympian in 30 years. Then, in his first match, he made the huge mistake of spending the last 35 seconds trying to protect a lead when he actually was behind and needed to go on the attack. He lost 9-8 and left the ring in tears.
SHOOTING
Glenn Eller is a member of the U.S. Army. He’s also the new double-trap champion, having set an Olympic record with his score. So it’s no surprise that his spot in the military is being part of the Army Marksmanship Unit. Fourth went to Jeff Holguin, another Army marksman.
WOMEN’S GYMNASTICS
China’s He Kexin, who fell off the uneven bars during Sunday’s preliminaries, will be back on the apparatus in the finals Wednesday. It’s the only event He will do.
As expected, American Samantha Peszek will be on the sidelines for the finals because of a twisted left ankle.
BEACH VOLLEYBALL
Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor keep looking good in their bid for a second straight gold, improving to 2-0 with a straight sets victory over Cuba that virtually assures them of a spot in the medal round. It was their 103rd consecutive victory.
WOMEN’S SOCCER
Heather O’Reilly scored 40 seconds into the match, leading the U.S. past New Zealand 4-0 and into the quarterfinals. Better yet, they won their group, avoiding a match with title contender Brazil.
BADMINTON
Howard Bach and Bob Malaythong have gone where no American badminton tandem has ever gone ó the quarterfinals. Next up, though, is a second-seeded Chinese pair with a loud, loyal following.
EQUESTRIAN
American Gina Miles, riding McKinlaigh, won the individual silver medal in eventing. Gold went to German Hinrich Romeike, riding Marius.
Germany won the gold in team eventing in an exciting showdown with Australia that went down to the final two riders.
WATER POLO
Jeffrey Powers had three goals, Tony Azevedo added two and the Americans barely escaped with a 12-11 victory against Italy in preliminary play. At 2-0 in the Group B pool, they’re in solid position to advance to the quarterfinals even with Serbia and gold-medal favorite Croatia in the next two games.
ROWING
The U.S. men’s eight crew advanced to the final with a win in the second-chance race, keeping alive hopes of defending the Olympic title. Three members from the 2004 team are back.
SAILING
American favorite Anna Tunnicliffe topped the rankings in Laser Radial sailing after two opening races, while Australia maintained its lead in both the men’s and women’s 470 dinghy classes.
China’s 2004 windsurfing silver medalist Yin Jian remained on top in her quest for the host country’s first-ever sailing gold, as did Israeli Shahar Zubari in his bid for his nation’s second Olympic gold ever.
ARCHERY
American Jennifer Nichols tied an Olympic record in the first round, then was ousted in the second round. Teammate Khatuna Lorig moved on.
TEAM HANDBALL
Three men’s games were decided in the final 2 minutes: Russia over Egypt, South Korea over Denmark and Spain over Poland. Other winners were Croatia, France and Iceland.
FIELD HOCKEY
The U.S. women again tied a highly ranked team, matching Japan at 1-1, but could use a victory to get into the next round.
FENCING
American Keeth Smart lost in the round of eight.