BEIJING — Per usual, Carmelo Anthony made the highlight reel.
In Team USA’s Olympic opener against China, a shot by a Chinese player gently bounced off the rim and hung in the air. Anthony made a futile attempt to block out and reach for the rebound, while China’s Yi Jianlian leapt over Anthony and emphatically dunked on the all-star.
It was that type of night for the Nuggets forward, who struggled while his team erupted against China, defeating the host country, 101-70, here on Sunday night.
In the past two summers of competition, Anthony led Team USA in scoring. Against China in the opening game of pool play, he scored just three points in 14 minutes.
“Poor shooting,” said Anthony, who was 0-for-3 from the field, 3-for-4 from the line. “Me and as a team, we can do better. But games are going to happen like that. So it’s nice that we did other things to win the game.”
Anthony didn’t seem to be completely focused on the court, and it showed. He was pulled in Team USA’s first substitution and, when he returned, never got into an offensive flow that has made him so valuable for Denver.
“I just have to keep shooting,” Anthony said. “Maybe I’ve never been this open before.”
Sunday night was arguably the most anticipated team competition of the Games. The host country trotted out its national hero, Yao Ming, the Houston Rockets center who hadn’t played since a February foot injury. Yao scored 13 points with a game-high 10 rebounds). The scene at Olympic Basketball Gymnasium was contagiously patriotic, with continuous cheers and chants of “Chi-na! Chi-na!”
“It was electrifying, man,” Anthony said. “I haven’t been part of a game like that since the national championship game.”
Early on, there was plenty for the locals to cheer about. The 7-foot-6 Yao made the first shot of the game, a 3-pointer no less, and the pesky home team went 8-for-14 from 3-point range before Yi’s missed half-court launch at the halftime buzzer. At the time, it was 49-37, Team USA. Then, in the third quarter, China’s magic completely wore off. The 3-pointers which swished so effortlessly in the first half, clanged off the rim so often in the second half. China scored just 11 total points in the quarter, and the American starters rested in the fourth.
The zesty Dwyane Wade, showing no slowness in his first action since a knee injury, led all scorers with 19 points, 7-for-7 from the field, 5-for-5 from the line. LeBron James scored 18 points, including a few statement dunks, one that jolted U.S. President George W. Bush out of his seat.
In the end, America won the game, but China played proud basketball in front of 11,083 fans and thousands of media members from around the globe.
“This is a personal Olympics for me,” Yao said. “Everyone is proud. It felt great, all the flags, people cheering. It was a great game.”
Benjamin Hochman: 303-954-1294 or bhochman@denverpost.com
