Basketball > Day by Day Recap

After a disappointing bronze at the 2004 Athens Games and a third-place finish at the world championships, Beijing was about redemption for Team USA. They got just that, in a shootout against world champion Spain, eventually securing the gold medal with a 118-1077 victory. Argentina took the bronze by beating Lithuania.

Many thought this gold medal final would be a close game, given it was Australia's third straight and they had mowed through their competition. It was anything but, as Team USA's depth led to a 27-point victory, making this squad the first women's team of any kind to win four straight gold medals. Lisa Leslie became the first female to win four straight golds in the same event. Earlier, Russia won bronze by beating China.

The United States men had lost in the semifinals of each of their last two major international tournaments. That ended in Beijing as they took down defending Olympic champion Argentina by 20. In the other semifinal, defending world champion Spain won a showdown with Group A top seed Lithuania.

For the third consecutive Olympics, the United States and Australia set up a gold medal showdown with semifinal victories. The U.S. women had their closest contest of the Beijing Games, beating Russia by 15, before Australia blew out host China in the other semifinal.

Yao Ming and host China missed a chance to reach the semifinals in a blowout loss to Lithuania in the quarterfinals. On the other end of the bracket, Argentina held off Greece in the closest medal round game, setting  up a 2004 semifinal rematch with the United States -- which blew out Australia.

China's improbably successful run in women's basketball continued in the quarterfinals as the host country advanced to the semifinals for the first time since 1992 by beating Belarus. The United States women had little trouble in their first medal round game as they beat South Korea by 44.

After losing the Olympic opener, defending champion Argentina closed pool play with a fourth straight win by knocking off Russia. In the other group, the U.S. men dominated Germany and former NBA MVP Dirk Nowitzki, winning by 49 points.

Few games meant much in the final day of women's preliminary round. But the Group A finale between Russia and Australia pitted two undefeated teams vying for the top seed out of their group. Australia trailed by double digits, but rallied for a 20-point win. The U.S. women closed pool play by winning their 30th consecutive Olympic game, and Lisa Leslie set a record by going 7-for-7 from the field.

The two biggest games on Day 8 were the last two of the day -- with China securing a berth in the quarterfinals, and eliminating Dirk Nowitzki at the same time, with a 59-55 win. Immediately following that close game, we got anything but -- as the U.S. men beat world champion Spain by 37 points. Lithuania also clinched the top seed out of Group A with a win on Day 8.

Despite a few close calls early, the Russian women kept rolling through the preliminary round with hopes of a meeting with Australia for Group A's top seed. Both teams kept on that track on Day 7, with Russia holding off Brazil and Australia blowing out Latvia.

The Greek men may be glad this day is over. Since losing to the Greeks in the 2006 world championship, the U.S. men had relished a rematch. When they got it, they made the Greeks pay, dominating in every phase of the game on the way to a 23-point victory. Host China also picked up its first win of the Games on Day 6.

Brazil, a medalist in two of the last three Olympics, continued to disappoint in Beijing -- falling to 0-3 on Day 5 by losing to Latvia. Conversely, the U.S. women cruised to a 46-point victory against an overmatched Mali squad. In the meantime, megastar Kobe Bryant was making his way around the Olympics, taking in the events.

Host China had a 13-point lead in the third quarter against defending world champion Spain, but could not hold off Pau Gasol and company as the Spaniards rallied for an overtime win.

For the second time in as many nights, a U.S. basketball team blew out host China. This time, it was the American women disposing of the hosts, using a 23-0 run to blow the game open in the first half. The U.S. men, in the mean time, took the day to tour the Great Wall of China.

In what many felt would be the most watched basketball game ever, Team USA opened the Beijing Games by disappointing 1.3 billion Chinese citizens, blowing out Yao Ming and host China.

While the U.S. women won easily on Day 1 -- as expected -- against the Czech Republic, the big surprise was host China's three-point win against Spain. Brazil also started a poor Olympic showing in an upset loss to South Korea.