Team USA beats Spain for Men's Basketball gold

The United States won this game by its smallest margin of the tournament, but it wasn't so much the score that made this the closest match of the Beijing Games for the Athens bronze winners. Spain effectively protected the paint and delivered on offense inside and outside to keep the US squad on its toes throughout the gold medal match.
Spain was able to lead by as much as five points halfway through the first period, and reached 82 points by the end of the third quarter, which is as much as they netted against the US team in the preliminary match they lost 119-82. After Team USA returned to the lead with 2:58 left in the first period it never lost the advantage -- but the all-star NBA squad was also never able to relax.
Foul trouble early on had Dwight Howard, Lebron James and Kobe Bryant benched only four minutes into the game, and forced the team to play as conservatively as possible on defense. It was high-pressure defense that led the US team to a swift victory over Spain in the preliminary. Spain, meanwhile, demonstrated why it was the best defensive team in the tournament, especially when at the end of the first half both teams were scoring equally in the paint.
After two quarters, Dwayne Wade already had 21 points, with three baskets made behind the arc, as did Spain's Rudy Fernandez who netted a total of 13 points in only 8:57 minutes of play. Spain also ran into foul trouble in the first half, where several players including Fernandez had three personal fouls. Coach Mike Krzyzewski did a better job of protecting his players so that no US men went to the half with more than two strikes against them.
In the third quarter, Spain came within four points at 71-67, but hot-shooting Fernandez's personal foul tally also crept up to four. When the US side failed to widen the four point gap, Krzyzewski went to a timeout and the team returned with a fast break from Carmelo Anthony off a Chris Bosh rebound and assist. Fast breaks were another feature of the United States' preliminary victory over Spain, and Spain until now was able to keep them to a minimum. By the time the game ended, however Team USA took 16 fast break points compared to two from Spain.
The fourth quarter began 91-82, but a dunk by Pau Gasol followed by another big three-pointer from Fernandez made Team USA feel the heat at 91-89, and they went to a timeout with 8:13 minutes left on the clock. Two buckets from Bryant and Howard, with a shot behind the arc from Deron Williams in between, and the United States got back its cushion at 98-89. Fernandez and Bryant took turns sinking undefended three-pointers, but at 3:10 minutes Spain suffered a setback when Fernandez reached his fifth foul and exited the game at a score of 107-99.