In the first game for both teams, the Russians defeated Great Britain 95-75 as the first round of basketball opens at the 2012 London Olympics. Russia had little trouble against the hosts, as it never trailed in the final three quarters after taking an early advantage.
A pair of new Minnesota Timberwolves, forward Andrei Kirilenko and guard Alexei Shved, led the way for Team Russia in fashion. Kirilenko was the game's leading scorer with 35 points on 14-of-17 shooting while Shved put up a double-double with 16 points, 11 assists, seven rebounds and three steals.
Denver Nuggets center Timofey Mozgov also saw some action for the Russians, putting up nine points on 3-of-3 shooting off the bench. He struggled with foul trouble, though, committing five fouls to seriously limit his playing time on the court.
Luol Deng was the leading scorer for Great Britain with 26 points, but he needed to take 27 shots to get there. The British also got 22 points from Pops Mensah-Bonsu and 13 points from Joel Freeland, but they shot just 33 percent from the field as a team.
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