Spain begin their gold rush with China win

Spain got off to winning ways in their bid to win Olympic gold with a 97-71 victory against a spirited China side.

Despite losing to the EuroBasket champions, China showed much promise, which might be cause for concern when it comes to the final game of Pool B for Great Britain.

Pau Gasol put up 21 points together with 11 rebounds, whilst a late, yet highly impressive, appearance from Serge Ibaka saw another 17 points and 5 rebounds. Yi Jianlian, of the Dallas Mavericks, was China’s only standout performance, grabbing a game high of 30 points, but also consolidated this with 12 rebounds of his own.

After such a dominant performance by Team USA in the preceding game against France, it was vital that the Spanish produced another scintillating show on for the London crowds, as well as to make it clear they would be coming after the reigning World and Olympic champions.

A tight first quarter (19-17) gave way to a dominant period going into half time (53-41), however after the break another finely balanced quarter this time went in favour of the Chinese who were looking to make in-roads on the deficit (69-60). All in vain though as Spain were able to see out the game, but not without experiencing a challenge from China that could see the 2008 Olympic hosts still qualify if their physical style of play and be kept up.