By Dan Ferrara. NBA International
United States forward Carmelo Anthony moved into first place in all-time scoring in USA Olympic history with his 3-pointer with 1:09 to play in the first quarter against Australia Wednesday.
The New York Knicks star passed LeBron James atop the leaderboard by scoring his 274th point in Olympic competition, and now has 293 total points after his 31-point barrage on Wednesday evening. Anthony also holds the United States’ record for most points in a single game, dropping 37 in 14 minutes on Nigeria in the 2012 London Olympics.
Anthony, a four-time Olympian seeking his third gold medal, has become a leader on and off the court for this United States team. Though many of his teammates have won rings in the NBA, none of them have the Olympic accolades that he has. He put his leadership skills on display on Wednesday against a scrappy Australia group who gave Team USA all they could handle.
While Australia was expected to give the United States their first real test of the Olympics, they actually held a lead for most of the first three quarters and wouldn’t go away in the fourth. Anthony put the team on his back, however, scoring a game-high 31 (11-21 FG) and drilling nine 3-pointers to carry USA to victory and add on to his all-time Olympic 3-pointers record.
Anthony was especially clutch in the fourth quarter, scoring the first eight points in the frame for the United States. He would score 14 points in the fourth, when the US outscored the Boomers 28-21 to pull away late and avoid an upset in the showdown of Group A unbeatens.
