"Spain were incredible. They are world champions, but we came up for a big win. Everybody said the NBA players are selfish, arrogant, individual. Today we proved we can play together," Bryant said.
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The United States defeats Spain 118-107 to take the men's basketball gold medal at the Beijing Olympic Games on Sunday. [Xinhua]
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Dwyane Wade, U.S. leading scorer, had the game-high 27 points when the team shot amazing 70 percent (26-37) in the field and 46 percent on three-pointer (13-28).
Rudy Fernandez led the brave Spaniards with 22 points and Pau Gasol added 21 points and six rebounds, with six players scoring double-digit numbers.
"This feels great. We haven't won it in eight years. A lot of people doubted that NBA stars could play together," Wade said.
"I'm so excited. We all are. We've been waiting for this for years and it's finally here," said Bryant, who dragged forward the chest of his jersey to show the "U.S.A." words on it when the team celebrated the victory after the final whistle.
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The United States defeats Spain 118-107 to take the men's basketball gold medal at the Beijing Olympic Games on Sunday. [Xinhua]
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