Olympic Basketball 2016: Scores, Highlights and Reaction from Sunday

A day after the United States men got their quest for gold underway in Rio, the U.S. women highlighted the slate of games Sunday in group play.

With the deepest group in the field, the Americans are a heavy favorite to walk away with their sixth straight gold medal. The U.S. has not lost on the Olympic stage since falling in the 1992 semifinals. The squad's last loss on a major international stage came at the 2006 World Cup—which coincidentally took place in Brazil.

On the men's side, reigning silver medalist Spain will take on Croatia on Sunday night. The Spaniards, while still expected to compete for a medal, are far weaker than their 2012 counterparts thanks to the absence of center Marc Gasol.

Women's Tables

Rank	Country	G	W	L	PF	PA	Differential	Points
1	Australia	2	2	0	145	122	+23	4
2	France	2	2	0	128	111	+17	4
3	Japan	1	1	0	77	73	+4	2
4	Belarus	2	0	2	145	150	-5	2
5	Turkey	2	0	2	95	116	-21	2
6	Brazil (H)	1	0	1	66	84	−18	1

Rank	Country	G	W	L	PF	PA	Differential	Points
1	United States	1	1	0	121	56	+65	2
2	Canada	1	1	0	90	68	+22	2
3	Spain	1	1	0	65	59	+6	2
4	Serbia	1	0	1	59	65	−6	1
5	China	1	0	1	68	90	−22	1
6	Senegal	1	0	1	56	121	−65	1

Men's Tables

Rank	Country	G	W	L	PF	PA	Differential	Points
1	United States	1	1	0	119	62	+57	2
2	Serbia	1	1	0	86	62	+24	2
3	Australia	1	1	0	87	66	+21	2
4	France	1	0	1	66	87	−21	1
5	Venezuela	1	0	1	62	86	−24	1
6	China	1	0	1	62	119	−57	1

Rank	Country	G	W	L	PF	PA	Differential	Points
1	Argentina	1	1	0	94	66	+28	2
2	Lithuania	1	1	0	82	76	+6	2
3	Croatia	1	1	0	72	70	+2	2
4	Spain	1	0	1	70	72	-2	1
5	Brazil (H)	1	0	1	76	82	-6	1
6	Nigeria	1	0	1	66	94	-28	1

Men's Results

Lithuania 82, Brazil 76

At one point, Lithuania led by 30. The stunned Brazilian crowd looked on in horror as their team seemingly folded in the spotlight.

Then, slowly but surely, Brazil started battling its way back. The crowd came back to life, and Lithuania seemed totally out of sorts as Brazil cut the lead from seemingly insurmountable to single digits.

One problem: The lead was insurmountable. Despite its best efforts for a historic collapse, Lithuania held on for an 82-76 victory Sunday afternoon.

Five players, led by Mantas Kalnietis with 16, scored in double figures for Lithuania. Kalnietis added eight assists and three rebounds as well. Paulius Jankunas added 15 points and seven rebounds off the bench. Domantas Sabonis, Renaldas Seibutis and Jonas Maciulis were also in double figures.

Despite scoring just 24 points in the second half, Lithuania made 50 percent of its shots.

Brazil was led by a 21-point effort by Leandro Barbosa, while Raul Neto (14 points) and Nene (11 points) were also in double figures.

Croatia 72, Spain 70

Spain is largely seen as one of the potential medal challengers in the Olympics behind a starting lineup that featured a number of familiar players for NBA fans. However, Croatia stunned that lineup that included Pau Gasol, Nikola Mirotic, Ricky Rubio and Rudy Fernandez with a 72-70 victory.

Spain had an opportunity to tie it in the final seconds, but Gasol was blocked at the rim, as NBC Olympics shared:

Gasol finished with 26 points and nine rebounds, while Mirotic added 19 points behind four made three-pointers.

Dario Saric turned in a solid overall game for Croatia with five points, seven rebounds, five assists and a block, but it was Bojan Bogdanovic who spearheaded the effort for the victorious side. He posted 23 points and helped Croatia dominate the fourth quarter to the tune of 25-16 in the comeback win.

Argentina 94, Nigeria 66

This game was never in doubt after Argentina jumped out to a 50-31 halftime lead and rode it to a comfortable 94-66 victory.

Argentina received a balanced effort with five guys scoring in double figures, including Facundo Campazzo. Campazzo came off the bench and poured in a team-high 19 points behind 6-of-10 shooting from the field and 5-of-8 shooting from three-point range.

NBA stalwarts Luis Scola (18 points and nine boards) and Manu Ginobili (12 points and five rebounds) were also impressive for Argentina against an overmatched Nigerian side.

While Nigeria didn’t have much of a chance in the game, Ike Diogu posted a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds.

Women's Results

United States 121, Senegal 56

Suffice it to say the Americans aren't shying from the Olympic spotlight.

Diana Taurasi, Breanna Stewart and Sylvia Fowles each scored a team-high 15 points as the United States got off to a record-setting romp over Senegal. The 65-point rout set a record for the largest margin of victory and a single-game high in points, per ESPN.

The U.S. shot 64.8 percent from the floor and had seven players in double figures. Brittney Griner had 14 points, seven rebounds and two blocks, while Tina Charles added 10 points. Most of the scoring came off the bench, and Stewart and Fowles had no trouble getting shots near the bucket. Elena Delle Donne and Angel McCoughtry scored 11 points apiece off the bench as well.

Fatou Dieng, who scored 10 points, was the only Senegal player in double figures. The overmatched outfit shot 35.2 percent from the floor; the United States held the team to just nine points in a 35-9 first quarter. Senegal finished the contest with eight more turnovers (27) than made field goals (19).

Chris Mueller of 93.7 The Fan put the game in context:

The U.S., meanwhile, feasted on a series of open shots, assisting on 36 of its 46 made field goals. Sue Bird led the way with eight helpers, while Delle Donne had six.

Spain 65, Serbia 59

Anna Cruz and Astou Ndour each had double-doubles and Marta Xargay scored a team-high 15 off the bench as Spain held on in the fourth quarter for a 65-59 win over Serbia.

Closely contested throughout, the game was tied at halftime and Spain held just a two-point lead going into the fourth. The two sides both struggled offensively, with Spain hitting 32.4 percent of its shots and Serbia just 39.7.

The difference came on the boards, where Spain held a 47-35 advantage. Cruz added 11 rebounds to her 13 points, and Ndour had one more rebound (12) than point. 

Jelena Milovanovic scored a game-high 17 points for Serbia. Danielle Page added 14 points and Sonja Petrovic had 12 in a top-heavy performance from the Serbs. They were the only three players with more than five points.

Australia 61, Turkey 56

Liz Cambage had a sterling double-double and Katie Rae Ebzery and Leilani Mitchell were each in double figures, spurring Australia to a 61-56 win over Turkey.

Playing against the world's second-ranked women, Turkey kept it tight throughout with a strong defensive effort. Australia shot just 36.7 percent from the floor, including a 6-of-24 rate from beyond the three-point arc.

Cambage, a former No. 2 overall WNBA pick who left the Tulsa Shock for good in 2013, had 22 points and 11 rebounds in a dominant performance. She shot 9-of-16 from the floor and acted as an offensive anchor as Australia came back from a three-point halftime deficit.

Ebzery and Mitchell combined for five of the Aussies' six three-pointers. 

Turkish center Lara Sanders scored a game-high 25 points and added seven rebounds. Nevriye Yilmaz had 14 points and Isil Alben added 13 for Turkey. The Turkish team played all of its starters at least 33 minutes.

France 73, Belarus 72

In what was arguably the most exciting game in either the men’s or women’s tournament Sunday, France beat Belarus 73-72 behind a buzzer-beater from Endy Miyem. Officials needed to review the final shot, but she got it off in time and earned her side the dramatic victory.

Miyem finished with 12 points and six rebounds as one of four French starters to score in double figures. Olivia Epoupa led the way with 16 points.

Belarus controlled the first quarter and jumped out to a 22-14 lead, but it was outscored by nine in the second half. It also had four starters score in double figures, and Yelena Leuchanka tallied a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds.

However, Belarus couldn’t come up with the critical defensive stop in the closing seconds.

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