RIO DE JANEIRO -- Diana Taurasi and the U.S. womens basketball brushed aside yet another opponent at the Rio Games after being challenged for the first time in the Olympics, albeit for just one half.While Japan played the Americans tough in the first half, the end result was another blowout victory for the U.S., although the 110-64 dismantling of the Japanese team may have come at a cost.Point guard Sue Bird didnt play the second half after injuring her right knee in the second quarter. She told The Associated Press after the game that she felt a pop.Nothing really happened, Bird said of the play. I just felt the pop and anytime you feel that, its a little alarming. So going just to have to get it evaluated afterwards and see whats up. ... I really have nothing to tell you. It happened so fast like. Is it possible I stepped on her shoe or she stepped on mine? I dont really remember, but yeah it felt funny.U.S. coach Geno Auriemma said that they would evaluate the injury.I really dont know. I said well know on Wednesday, Auriemma said. Theres no way of knowing anything right now. Im sure Sues bummed out about it as you can imagine. Lets just wait and see.Coming into the quarterfinals, every U.S. game was virtually over at the half. Not this one.Japan, sticking to its up-tempo style of basketball, shooting 3-pointers and pushing the pace, trailed just 56-46 at halftime. But the Americans, which won its five group games by an average of 40.8 points, had just too much offensive firepower and eclipsed the 100-point mark for the fifth time in six games, outscoring Japan 54-18 in the second half.That is a really good team, they make you work, Taurasi said. They have a system of playing that Im really familiar with. ... We knew it would be a tough game. They put a lot of pressure on you and we felt it in the first half.The Americans, who will meet France in the semifinals Thursday, have played nearly flawless basketball in Rio and their performances apparently have made an impression on Japan.The Japanese players posed for a team picture with the U.S. after the blowout -- the second straight opponent to get a postgame memento with the Americans. China took a photo after their game against the Americans in pool play. Its reminiscent of how opponents reacted to the Dream Team at the 1992 Barcelona Games.I dont even know. Its the second time now in a row, said Bird. Yeah I dont know what happened.In the first 20 minutes against Japan, the Americans were challenged as the Asian nation wasnt afraid to try and run with them. The Japanese quickly got the ball up and down the court and hit open jumpers, taking it right at the No. 1 ranked team in the world.Just as the Americans seemed to be pulling away in the second quarter, opening up a double-digit lead, Japan responded with a 10-2 run.And they looked impressive doing it.Ramu Tokashiki -- who plays for the WNBAs Seattle Storm -- shook free from her defender for an easy backdoor layup that got Japan within 48-46 and capped the burst. It brought a loud contingent of Japanese fans to their feet.Thats as close as they would get. The U.S. (6-0) scored the final eight points of the half with the last four coming from Seimone Augustus, which brought cheers from Kevin Durant and several other members of the U.S. mens basketball team in attendance.Japan scored the first four points of the third quarter, but then Moore started a 10-0 run with five straight points. Brittney Griners layup capped the spurt and the U.S. never looked back.The Americans continued their torrid scoring pace and are still above the 102.4 mark set by the 1996 team that started the run of five gold medals and 47 consecutive Olympic wins.Tokashiki scored 14 points to lead Japan (3-3), which was playing its first Olympics since 2004. The three victories equaled the most ever for the team in the Games, which it will host in 2020.While this game provided the first real test for the Americans, their road to a sixth consecutive gold medal got a little bit easier when Australia lost to Serbia 73-71 early Tuesday. The Aussies had been the only team to hold a halftime lead over the U.S. at the Olympics in the past 16 years when they led by four in the semifinal game in the 2012 London Games. The U.S. won that game by 13. Serbia plays Spain in Thursdays other semifinal.---Online:AP Summer Games website: http://summergames.ap.org/---Follow Doug on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/dougfeinberg Nike Zoom Cheap . Badenhop was 2-3 with a 3.47 ERA in 63 relief appearances for Milwaukee this season. He is 18-20 in his career with three saves and a 3. Nike Zoom For Sale . -- Playing time has been limited for Maxim Tissot this season, so the Montreal Impact defender made the most of his first scoring opportunity on Saturday. http://www.wholesalenikezoom.com/ . -- There were a lot of firsts for the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night. Nike Zoom Sale . The Clippers were angry about blowing a big lead; the Kings didnt like being in that kind of hole and nearly digging themselves out only to lose. Nike Zoom Online Shop . The Nashville Predators were glad their captain was still on their side. Weber had a goal and two assists, and Roman Josi scored the shootout winner to lift the Predators to a 4-3 win over the Flyers on Thursday night. TROON, Scotland -- Phil Mickelson was 16 feet away from a place in history he wouldnt have to share with anyone.Fans watched from a rooftop balcony. Royal Troon members strained to see out the window from the clubhouse behind the 18th green. Jack Nicklaus usually doesnt watch golf on TV, but he made an exception for this moment.In 436 majors held over the last 156 years, no one had ever shot 62.Thats still the case. By a fraction of an inch.I want to cry, Mickelson said.Mickelson pointed his putter toward the hole and was ready to step into history Thursday in the British Open when his birdie putt turned sharply to the right at the mouth of the hole, just enough to ride the edge around the back of the cup and sit there, teasing him.You made a beautiful read and putt on that last hole but got absolutely stone-cold robbed, Nicklaus said in a message on Facebook.Mickelson plopped his hand on his forehead in disbelief. His caddie, Jim Bones Mackay, was so stunned that he fell over backward.It was one of the best rounds Ive ever played ... and yet I want to shed a tear right now, Mickelson said. That putt on 18 was an opportunity to do something historical. I knew it, and with a foot to go I thought I had done it. I saw that ball rolling right in the center. I went to go get it. I had that surge of adrenaline that I had just shot 62, and then I had the heartbreak that I didnt.No tears were necessary at Royal Troon, not after a round of 63 that was brilliant even by Leftys standards, and certainly not after building a three-shot lead over Patrick Reed and Martin Kaymer on an ideal day by the Irish Sea.Mickelson seized the moment with a birdie on the par-5 16th from a bunker short of the green, and a 4-iron to 15 feet for birdie on the par-3 17th to reach 8-under par. He knew no one had ever shot 62 in a major. He also knew he most likely would never get a chance like this.That would have been really something special, he said. So to have that putt lip out, thats going to sting for a while.Even with such a close call, Mickelson is in good company.Nicklaus missed a putt just inside 3 feet for a 62 in the 1980 U.S. Open at Baltusrol. Greg Norman had to only two-putt from 30 feet for a 62 at Turnberry in the 1986 British Open and took three putts. Tiger Woods watched his 15-foot putt for 62 spin 270 degrees around the cup in the 2007 PGA Championship at Southern Hills.dddddddddddd Nick Prices birdie putt for a 62 in the 1986 Masters dipped in and out of the cup.Asked why there had never been a 62 in the major, Mickelson pointed to his putt.Theres a curse, he said. Because that ball should have been in.It wasnt for a lack of effort. He went with a 6-iron to play a baby cut back toward the hole, and it worked out perfectly. He brought in his caddie and told him that I need your best read. Ernie Els did his part, putting out of turn to turn the stage over to Mickelson.The pace was perfect. The putt looked perfect -- until it wasnt. By a fraction.I saw that ball going in and I just had a good, clear vision of what was going to happen, he said. What I didnt see was what happened.And now, he faces a return to reality.Of the seven previous players to open with a 63 in a major, only Nicklaus at the 1980 U.S. Open and Raymond Floyd at the 1982 PGA Championship went on to win.Royal Troon might not be this gentle the rest of the week. The forecast was for strong wind and rain for Friday, especially when Mickelson and Kaymer play in the morning. Lefty was ready to embrace whatever came his way.One of the biggest challenges is when you shoot a round like this, you start expectations running through your head and so forth, and thats the one thing that Ill have to try to suppress and hold off, he said. Well have three more rounds. Well have varying conditions tomorrow. Its going to be very difficult.Eight Americans were among the top 11 on the leaderboard at Royal Troon, where they have won the Open the last six times. That group included Steve Stricker, the 49-year-old in his first major this year, and Justin Thomas, the 23-year-old in his first British Open.Defending champion Zach Johnson had a chance to shoot 63 if he birdied the last two holes. He went bogey-bogey for a 67.But this day was all about Mickelson, who never seriously came close to making bogey. He missed only three greens and two fairways, one on the 18th when he switched to a 3-wood and, realizing what was at stake, sent his shot toward a pot bunker.It bounced just far enough left to avoid it. It looked as though everything was going to his way. Right until the final inch. Wholesale Hoodies NFL Shirts Outlet Jerseys NFL Wholesale Cheap NFL Jerseys Free Shipping Wholesale Jerseys Cheap Cheap NFL Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '