Olympic Basketball 2012: Pau Gasol Leads Spain Past Australia

Pau Gasol used last summer’s European hoops championships to help get back some of the swagger he lost during his postseason belly flop. This time around not too much was different for how the Lakers again ended their season and Pau’s playoff performance was once again called into question. That’s bad news for the rest of the hoops world (well…everyone except the good old U.S. of A. that is).

Gasol already proclaimed himself to be in beast mode before the Olympics even began. Now that his Spanish squad is 2-0, well on their way to another re-match with the United States in the medal round, it’s looking like Pau is walking the walk and not just talking the talk.

Spain defeated Australia in London today by the score of 82-70. Leading the way for Spain was none other than Pau who dropped a game-high 20 in just 17 minutes of action. Rudy Fernandez was close behind Pau scoring 17 including a 4-of-5 performance from beyond the arc.

Not to be left out, Marc Gasol went for 12 and 7 during his 28 minutes on the court.

One-time Blazer and current Spur Patty Mills scored 11 for the Aussies who fall to 0-2 in the 2012 Games in London.

The Spanish National Team takes the court again Thursday where they’ll play the host nation Great Britain.