Mostly missing in action in the Olympics and held scoreless in the first half, Kobe Bryant piled up 20 points in the last 20 minutes of the game to assert himself against Australia. Kobe, who had been viewing voluminous victories from the distance of the bench, this time was involved late and did it from distance - connecting on six three-pointers - to distance Team USA from its feisty foe in the fourth quarter.
Kobe wasn't the only awesome American versus the Aussies, as LeBron James assembled the first Olympic triple-double ever by a U.S. player, providing 11 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists. Patty Mills (26 points) and his mates didn't play patty-cake, they came to compete, and came close to gutting it out, even without Andrew Bogut in the lineup. Australia went on an 11-0 tear to open the third, showing they could strike the stars and not be star-struck. But Bryant buried three straight threes during a 17-2 burst, so that before long, even Australia's costumed kangaroo was congratulating him. Like the marsupial mascot, Kobe had a special spring in his step.
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