Nigeria national basketball team, D’Tigers, were taught a hard lesson on Tuesday morning when they clashed with the American Dream Team in an Olympic tune-up game.
Despite the absence of NBA stars, LeBron James and Stephen Curry, the US still had enough in their arsenal to beat the Africans by 110-66.
Both sides clashed for the first time in four years with their last coming at the 2012 Olympics in London.
It was a forgettable one for the Nigerians who were appearing at their debut Olympics. The Americans won by an incredible 156 – 73 margin, to set an Olympic record for most points.
Exactly same day, four years after, a similar scenario played out.
Playing at the Toyota Center Arena, Houston, Texas, the US once again proved why they are world No. 1 basketball team by almost doubling the points of the team ranked 25.
Their buildup to the Rio de Janeiro Games included five straight exhibition wins, but just one came against an opponent ranked in the top 10 in the world. They easily beat No. 4 Argentina, No. 14 China twice and rolled over No. 22 Venezuela by 35 points.
Nigeria on the other hand won once but lost twice against the Argentines, defeated China twice and were brushed aside by France.
A half-dozen Americans finished in double figures, including Carmelo Anthony, who tallied a team high 19 points.
Nigeria shot 37.5% for the game and had 22 turnovers while their host shot 53.9% and 39.4% from three point range and out rebounded Nigeria 47-28.
“We played good defense and it led to some fast breaks,” US head coach, Mike Krzyzewski said.
“Our team is very deep. The most versatile team we have had.
“It was good way to close it out. Now the big show starts and we got to lock in.”
The US team, gunning for their third consecutive gold medal face China, Australia, France, Venezuela and Serbia in Group A.
While the Nigerians are drawn in Group B alongside host Brazil, Argentina, Croatia, Lithuania and Spain
