LAS VEGAS — With LeBron James out, Dwyane Wade proved he is definitely back.
Wade stepped into the starting lineup and scored 20 points in his first action in more than four months, and the United States beat Canada 120-65 on Friday night in the opener of its exhibition schedule.
James, the NBA’s leading scorer, missed the game because of a mildly sprained right ankle, but the Americans have plenty of offense without him. Carmelo Anthony and Michael Redd also finished with 20 points, and Kobe Bryant added 15.
The Americans made 16 of their first 20 shots and ended at 65.7 percent (44-of-67), getting plenty of layups and dunks at a sold out Thomas &Mack Center in their lone game on home soil before completing their Olympic preparations in China.
Wade was the sixth man on the Americans’ bronze medal team in the 2006 world championships, but sat out last summer following knee surgery. His left knee continued to bother him, so the Miami Heat shut down their star for the season early in March.
He resumed working out in Chicago in time to prove to USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo that he was healthy enough to be picked for the team headed to Beijing. Coach Mike Krzyzewski said Wade’s strong play has been the most pleasant surprise of practice this week, and Wade said he feels healthier than he did two years ago, when he was bothered by wrist and knee pain after leading Miami to the NBA title.
James was hurt during a scrimmage on Tuesday. Though his ankle is feeling better, the U.S. staff preferred to rest him to avoid further swelling before the long plane flight to China this weekend.
The Americans continue their preparations in China, playing two games in Macau and two more in Shanghai before arriving in Beijing. They face the host Chinese in their opener on Aug. 10.
Notes
PREDICTION: The United States is projected to finish with 11 more gold medals than China at the Beijing Games, according to Italian Olympic official Luciano Barra’s latest forecast. In what he calls his final projection for the top 50 countries, Barra lists the United States at the top with 49 gold medals and 101 overall. China is next with 38 gold and 88 overall. Russia, Britain and Germany are also in the top five, with Australia sixth. The prediction is based on medals won in the most recent world championships, or equivalent events for sports that do not hold world championships.
DOPING: An Australian sports scientist who helped develop a test to detect EPO thinks the abuse by athletes of legal performance-enhancing substances could become a major issue of the Beijing Olympics.
“Beijing will probably be remembered for the abuse of legal drugs like Viagra,” Robin Parisotto told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio on Friday. “Any physical activity that goes for longer than 2 minutes would be a beneficiary of something like Viagra, just like the normal blood doping drugs.”
The World Anti-Doping Agency is investigating whether or not to include Viagra on its list of banned substances, but no decision will be taking place until after the Aug. 8-24 Beijing Olympics.
Parisotto, who helped design the first recognized EPO test before the 2000 Sydney Olympics, said Viagra had the same benefits as blood doping because of its circulatory effects.
The drug works by increasing the effects of nitric oxide, which makes blood vessels expand. That should theoretically allow blood cells to get more oxygen from the lungs. It also might improve heart function.
MEDALS: The Philippine government and the private sector are offering $220,000 to any athlete who brings home the country’s first Olympic gold medal, an official said Friday.
The Philippines has not won an Olympic gold since its first games at Paris in 1924. The most recent medal was silver in boxing in Atlanta in 1996.
Boxer Manny Pacquiao, who won the WBC lightweight title in June, will lead a 15-member Philippine Olympic team in the opening ceremony of the Beijing games.
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