USA Basketball vs. Japan 2016 Rio Olympics final score: Americans avoid upset with dominant 2nd half

A close game at halftime turned to utter obliteration as Team USA romped Japan 110-64 and will head to the semifinals. Most impressively, they were able to figure out their first-half woes without their leader in assists and only true point guard, Sue Bird, who never returned after suffering a knee injury in the second quarter.

A fast-paced style of play focused on quick offense from Japan forced Team USA into a different tempo of play than it was used to. The Japanese fired shots early in the shot clock and ran down the court immediately following made shots from the Americans to catch them off guard.

Maya Moore thrived on that pace in the first quarter, scoring 12 points and draining a pair of threes to go along with three rebounds and two assists. Her Minnesota Lynx teammate Sylvia Fowles had her way on the boards on the inside, bringing down five to go along with six points. Diana Taurasi did her usual as well, connecting on four threes.

The up-and-down play didn’t suit all though, most importantly mitigating the effectiveness of a slower-moving Brittney Griner, who only played five first-half minutes. She’d been the Americans’ best player on both ends through pool play.

Any lead the Americans had never felt safe with Japan’s ball movement and how efficiently they were shooting from three -- they drained 7 of 11 in the opening 20 minutes. Mika Kurihara hit four of her own five attempts leaking out to the wings on fast breaks.

The quick play worked in Japan’s favor in the opening half as a much less talented team saw itself within two points with a minute and a half remaining. An 8-0 close saw Team USA regain a 56-46 lead. Things were uneasy.

Seimone Augustus was able to fill in for Bird and, behind a 33-9 run, the Americans blew the lid off what was a very close game. Moore and Taurasi continued their scoring efforts, finishing with 19 points each. As they continued to add to the scoreboard, the Japanese didn’t. Taurasi tied the three-point shooting record she broke last week, finishing with six made attempts again.

Japan converted on just seven second-half field goals, dropping a 50 percent shooting mark down to 34 percent. The threes stopped falling (they hit 1 of 11) and the tempo faded, so Team USA went big again and Griner was able to make an impact. After scoring just two points with no rebounds in limited first-half minutes, Geno Auriemma was able to play her again. She finished with six points and seven rebounds to go along with three blocks. Angel McCoughtry also made an impact off the bench with 13 points.

USA will play the winner of Canada and France on Thursday.

We’ve heard about how old this American roster is with the average age being 31, and it showed against the endless stamina of Japan’s young guards. The Japanese’s oldest player is 29.

Because of the quick tempo, Team USA had to play more iso than usual, ironically coming in the game right after they set an Olympic record with 40 assists. Playing into Japan’s hands, Taurasi, Moore and Lindsay Whalen dribbled the ball up looking for offense on their own as the forwards were recovering. It worked because they were on from deep and in Whalen’s case from mid-range, but had one of the three been off, this game could’ve looked a lot closer.

Japan nearly beat Australia in pool play, blowing an 18-point lead, and gave America a run. With an average roster age of 25 and height of just 5-foot-10, that’s really impressive.

Finding a way to make height a minor factor by using speed has kept them in games, and with more experience they’ll start holding onto those games. With Tamika Catchings assuredly gone and uncertainty with Taurasi, Bird, Whalen and Augustus, Auriemma is going to have to find speedy ball handlers to compete with what the Japanese are set to bring to Tokyo.

Team USA wasn’t used to this. They won all five of their games in pool play by an average of 43 points. They hadn’t played a team quicker than them with consistent three-point shooting.

It’s wild to think a 46-point game was ever close, but it was and it didn’t feel like the Americans were comfortably ahead until a few minutes into the third quarter. That line also sounds ridiculous, especially read by someone who hasn’t seen Team USA play yet, but this was a tough effort from Japan that couldn’t be seen just looking at the box numbers.