The French National Team isn't expected to be one of the top teams at the 2012 Olympics, but with a bevy of NBA players— including Tony Parker, Nicolas Batum and Mickael Pietrus— on the roster, they are no cakewalk. But the U.S. men had minimal trouble dispatching the French on Sunday in London, running away with a 98-71 victory.
The U.S. started slowly, with cold shooting a stagnant offense that only was up 22-21 over the French after the first quarter. But after that, the Americans dominated the game, outscoring France by 26 points in the second and third quarters before resting the top of their rotation for the fourth quarter. Kevin Durant led the U.S. in scoring with 22 points on 6-13 shooting from the field, and he also added nine rebounds. LeBron James put up a rather pedestrian nine points, eight rebounds and five assists, but was responsible for a few jaw-dropping passes.
Big man Kevin Love, who had looked out of sync and out of place in recent exhibition games, put up 14 points on 5-8 shooting to trail only Durant. Chicago native Anthony Davis saw some garbage time, scoring three points, grabbing three rebounds and blocking a shot.
The U.S. will be back in action on Tuesday at 4:15 p.m. CT when they take on Tunisia.
For day-to-day broadcasting schedules, visit NBC's Olympics web site.
For updates, stay tuned to SB Nation Chicago. For more in-depth coverage of the 2012 London games, check out SB Nation's dedicated Olympics news hub.