Spain easily covered that spread, losing 107-100, in a game that featured many lead changes and also many fouls, by the overzealous referees.

Despite a second half three point display by the Americans, the Spaniards kept it close after trailing by only one point at the half.

The difference maker was a Mister Kevin Durant, who as a three time scoring champ has now solidified himself as the best scorer in US Olympic history, and is now undoubtedly the guy when it comes to scoring. Not Kobe. Not Carmelo. Not LeBron. Repeat after me: KD35. Durant put up 27 points, 17 of which came in the first half.

However, as I predicted in my preview for Maddux Sports, it was the interior play of Pau Gasol and Marc Gasol that proved problematic for the Americans. Pau, in particular, fought off foul trouble and gave Kevin Love headaches the entire game. He utilized his superior length and size to hit a variety of turnarounds and fade aways, posing the problems I knew he would.

In my preview for Maddux, I said this regarding the matchup on the interior:

Interior: Pau Gasol & Marc Gasol vs. Tyson Chandler & Kevin Love

One interesting lineup the Spaniards could feature that could give the US problems would be to play both Gasols and insert Thunder forward Serge Ibaka in at small forward. The size may give the US some problems, but the counter by Coach K would simply be to go with more speed and pick up the tempo of the game. It would be an unorthodox approach by Spain, but at this point, maybe that is all they have going for them.

Ibaka did play his role as well, despite missing a number of free throws, as the Thunder big man shot only 44% from the line during the Olympics. His strong defensive play along with the Gasol brothers is what kept the game close.

So, it’s another gold for a country that was expected to win, and Spain won silver, also, as Vegas predicted they would, by setting their gold medal odds as the second to best of any team in the tournament at 5/1.

That’s two straight gold medals for the US squad, and after the disappointing bronze performance in 2004, it appears the Americans have reclaimed their throne as the country to beat.

The rest of the world is getting closer, just not close enough.

And no one is getting close to Kevin Durant.

Those were the words of Kevin Durant addressing the Associated Press. It’s a statement that may or may not needed to have been said, because the fact remains that while the US team can be beaten, they likely won’t…not if they keep their noses to the grindstone.

That statement will be tested first tonight against Australia. Can the Aussies give the US a run?

I doubt it, but they did beat the Russians (4-1), one of the stronger teams in pool play. It was Russia’s lone loss, so the US should definitely be cautious against this Aussie team. In that game, Joe Ingles led the way for AUS, putting up 20 points on an outstanding 8 of 11 shooting performance. They managed the victory without even receiving an outstanding performance from NBA guard Patty Mills, who managed only 13 points on 5 of 16 shooting. Mills has consistently been AUS’ best player, and he put up 39 points in the blowout victory over Luol Deng and Great Britain. Between Mills, Ingles, former Houston Rocket David Andersen, and former second round pick Joel Freeland, the Australian team has some weapons…

But can any of those weapons do much damage against the undefeated Americans?

Doubtful.

Tony Parker already showed that even the best of the best at point guard can’t counter the three headed monster of Chris Paul, Deron Williams, and Russell Westbrook. If Parker couldn’t do it, what would make us think Mills could?

Moreover, AUS’ talented big men are only talented against mediocre competition. Can one really expect backup caliber NBA centers like Andersen and Freeland to give Kevin Love and Tyson Chandler problems? Love is the best rebounder in the NBA and Chandler won the Defensive Player of the Year award.

Those Australian strengths are entirely negated by the US’ dominant roster. The Vegas spread is set at 33 points, but I don’t really even see it being that close. The Americans are going to use this as a statement game and it will be a chance to prove to the rest of the teams that this gold medal definitively belongs to the US. Kevin Durant, LeBron James, and Kobe Bryant have saved their best for the medal rounds, and that dominance should be showcased tonight.

Prediction: US by 41.