National Basketball Association

Team USA starts slow before beating Venezuela by 44 points

Published Aug. 8, 2016 8:22 p.m. ET

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RIO DE JANEIRO -- Red, white and blase for one quarter, the U.S. Olympic team woke up and won with ease.

Shaking off a sluggish, sloppy start and maybe some Brazilian boredom, the Americans regrouped in the second quarter and romped over Venezuela 113-69 on Monday, taking another step toward a possible third straight gold medal.

Kevin Durant scored 16 points and Carmelo Anthony 14 for the U.S. squad, which may have grown a touch overconfident following a 57-point blowout of China in its tournament opener.

The Americans were tied after one quarter, but turned up their defensive intensity, outscored Venezuela 30-8 in the second period and improved to 82-1 under coach Mike Krzyzewski.

It was similar to the meeting between the teams in Chicago on July 29, when the U.S. shot poorly and still won by 35 on their pre-Rio exhibition tour. Maybe this was a reminder that no team can be taken lightly -- and there is little margin for error -- once the Olympic flame is ignited.

The Americans continue pool play on Wednesday against unbeaten Australia. The Aussies, featuring five NBA players, four of them league champions, improved to 2-0 on Monday with an impressive 95-80 win over Serbia. Australia has never won an Olympic medal in men's basketball.

Anthony, the four-team Olympian and two-time gold medalist playing in his record 25th game for the United States, provided a much-needed spark in the second quarter.

With the Americans leading just 28-22 and looking anything but golden, Anthony came across the lane and stripped the ball away from Venezuelan center Gregory Echenique and passed it to Kyrie Irving. Anthony then trailed Irving up the floor, accepted a feed on the wing and knocked down a 3-pointer that lifted some of the pressure -- and fog -- off Team USA.

Anthony moved past Michael Jordan on the U.S. career scoring list and now only trails LeBron James and David Robinson.

Paul George scored 20 and Jimmy Butler 17 -- most of them coming in extended garbage time -- in the first Olympic matchup between the nations.

Venezuela's John Cox, a cousin of American superstar Kobe Bryant, scored 19 and Echenique 18.

Although this may not be the best made-in-America team as James, Stephen Curry and others chose to skip the Rio Games, the U.S. squad that came to Brazil appears to be in a class by itself. There will likely be tougher games ahead, but they haven't had one yet.

Venezuela, which doesn't have an NBA player on its roster, didn't figure to be a threat but the FIBA Americas champion wasn't intimidated by the U.S. roster of household names.

With their fans doing all they could to push the heavy underdogs, Venezuela's players outworked the Americans in the first quarter, which ended 18-all and the U.S. with six turnovers.

It was a different story in the second, when the Americans reeled off 13 straight points in one stretch to take control.

Staying on a 196-cabin luxury cruise shot anchored off Rio's coast, the U.S. team has settled in following a few choppy early days in Brazil.

Taking the floor in all-white warmups as Jay-Z's "Public Service Announcement" blared inside the Carioca Arena, the U.S. team looked both relaxed and ready.

DeAndre Jordan showed off some dance moves during layup drills as Brazilian fans, many of them wearing NBA jerseys, snapped photos of the American stars.

Late in the game, after George crushed a dunk to put the U.S. up by 43, Jordan boogied again on the sideline.