RIO DE JANEIRO -- Some at-the-buzzer instant analysis from press row at the Carioca Arena 1 after Team USA followed up Wednesdays scare against Australia with a 94-91 escape against Serbia that featured its own fresh rash of uncomfortable moments for the tournaments heavy favorite:How It Happened: Team USA scored the games first nine points, bolted to a 24-7 lead and looked from the jump like a team determined to make Serbia pay for the close call endured by the Americans in their previous Group A game with the Aussies.The ball movement was crisper. The defensive intensity was palpable. The rout was on.These players never imagined, given how the evening began, that theyd find themselves in a one-possession game in the final five seconds and forced to sweat out an open wing 3-pointer from Bogdan Bogdanovic for the tie that mercifully bounced long off the rim.But Serbia has a proud, stubborn group of its own, led by crafty veteran guard Milos Teodosic. Coach Mike Krzyzewski has mentioned Teodosic seemingly almost every day since the Americans arrived in Rio ... and you saw plenty of examples why.Despite the considerable attention he was drawing from the Yanks D, Teodosic was at the heart of the ball-movement clinic that got the Serbs back in the game and -- in the greater concern for Krzyzewski -- kept them in it all the way to the buzzer despite the two very quick fouls star center Miroslav Raduljica picked up early in the second half.For all the raves about this groups defensive prowess, Team USA struggled for the second straight game to cope with an offense that lets all five players touch the ball and features copious amounts of movement. Deep in the shot clock, guarding multiple actions is proving problematic far too often for a team with the Americans gold-or-bust aspirations.The decision by Serbia coach Sasha Djordjevic not to pull Raduljica after his third foul seemed disastrous when the former Milwaukee Bucks and Minnesota Timberwolves big man picked up No. 4 all of three seconds later, with a whopping 8:41 to go in the third quarter.It was two DeAndre Jordan free throws -- believe it or not -- in the final minute of the third that briefly got the lead back to double digits (71-60). But Serbia -- with Denver Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic ably filling the void created by Raduljicas absence -- simply wouldnt go away.The game stayed in single digits for much of the final period, despite some quality contributions from DeMar DeRozan (11 points) in a rare opportunity alongside starters Kyrie Irving, Paul George, Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony in a small-ball unit.Krzyzewski then let Draymond Green finish the game with that quartet as his small-ball center and that group hung on -- barely. Teodosic drew Serbia to within 94-91 by sinking a couple of free throws with 1:18 left, but the Americans escaped when Jokic missed a wild bank shot after Serbias excellent D lulled Irving into an iso-ball miss, followed by the errant triple from Bogdanovic.Irving was Team USAs top scorer with 15 points, with Jordan chipping in 13 and Durant, George and Anthony scoring 12 each.Jokic scored a team-best 25 points for the Serbs, Raduljica had 18 points before fouling out and Teodosic scored 18.The Streak: Thats now 72 wins in a row and counting for Krzyzewski and Team USA; 20 consecutive victories in Olympic play, 19 in FIBA World Cup tournaments, 10 in Olympic qualifiers and another 23 wins in exhibition games. The Americans previously tasted defeat in the semifinals of the 2006 FIBA World Championship against Greece and launched this streak on Sept. 2, 2006, with a 96-81 victory over Argentina in the bronze-medal game in Japan.Play Of The Game: The bucket, in truth, probably shouldnt have counted.DeMarcus Cousins sure looked as if ?he traveled before the fancy 360 spin at midcourt that left Teodosic in the dust and enabled Cousins -- at 6-foot-11 and 270 pounds -- to sail in for an uncontested to dunk after his guard-worthy pirouette for an 8-0 Team USA lead.But if they didnt call it ... why not savor the spectacle?Rest assured that Cousins, after picking up two fouls in less than three minutes in each of the last two games, surely enjoyed the moment. He actually racked up nine fouls in less than 19 minutes in those two outings, but Boogie made it all the way to the third quarter before picking up his first Friday night, thus keeping Serbia high on the list of Cousins favorite all-time opponents in the pros.The way he changed the game against the Serbs in the 2014 FIBA World Cup final in Spain remains Cousins finest hour in a national team jersey, yet this was an important performance, too. Krzyzewski sees Cousins as a critical component of this team and told him so after the struggles with foul trouble.The Sacramento Kings center totaled five points and three rebounds -- but only two fouls -- in 21 minutes.Krzyzewski said of the advice he gave Cousins: I said, Look,youre a human being, you should be frustrated. [But] lets just move on to the next thing and see if we can handle that going forward, because we need you. In the amount of minutes hes been in there, hes performed very well. We need him to play more.Numbers Game: The United States extends its win streak to 72, but this was one of its closest calls during the streak. Its just the fourth time during those 72 games that they won by five or fewer points.Fresh off becoming the all-time leading mens scorer in U.S. Olympic history, Anthony showed up for work Friday needing 24 rebounds to surpass David Robinson as Team USAs all-time top boards man.He wound up pulling in three rebounds against the Serbs, leaving him 21 shy.The current leaderboard:Krzyzewski said coming into the Serbia game that he didnt want to make a change at center in the starting lineup because he wanted Cousins, despite his foul trouble throughout the tournament, to try to adapt to how tightly games are being called in Rio.But Klay Thompson, one of Krzyzewskis favorites dating to the 2014 FIBA World Cup in Spain, came off the bench for the second straight game as he tries to find his shot after some serious struggles through Team USAs first three games.Thompson shot 3-for-20 from the field, including a frigid 2-for-13 from 3-point range, in his first three games in Rio. In nine minutes Friday night, Thompson didnt fare much better, going 1-for-6, his only make a 3-pointer on three attempts from beyond the arc.Durant needed 21 points against Serbia to pass Charles Barkley for the fifth-highest total in U.S. Olympic history. He wound up with 12.Whats Next: The Americans play France on Sunday in their first afternoon game of these Olympics and their final Group A game.Yet even at 4-0, Team USA hasnt clinched first place in the group yet. The Tony Parker-led French could still force a three-way tie at the top, provided they beat Venezuela later Friday night and upset the United States in Sundays finale.In the unlikely event France manufactures that upset and forces a three-way tie atop the group, scoring differential between the tied teams will be used as the tiebreaker to seed the top three nations in Group A. The top four teams from the group advanced to next weeks quarterfinals. Air Max Australia Sale . Oaklands loss to Seattle clinched the ALs best record for the Red Sox with one day to spare in the regular season. "I think everybody was kind of watching," catcher David Ross said. "Demp (Ryan Dempster) came out before he went to the bullpen and was just yelling that they lost. Air Max Australia Online . -- Nathan Pancel scored twice as the Sudbury Wolves defeated the North Bay Battalion 4-2 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League action. http://www.australiaairmaxwholesale.com/ . The Islanders dealt Thomas Vanek to the Montreal Canadiens after less than a year on Long Island. Meanwhile, the Oilers dealt long-time sniper Ales hemsky to the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday for a fifth-round pick in 2014 and a third-rounder in 2015. Cheap Air Max . Scott Kazmir allowed four hits in seven shutout innings, Michael Brantley hit a two-run homer in a three-run first inning and the Indians maintained their hold on an AL wild-card spot with a 4-1 win over the Houston Astros on Saturday night. Air Max Australia . Coach Tom Thibodeau says the former MVP will probably start travelling with the team in the next few weeks. Rose tore the meniscus in his right knee at Portland in November and was ruled out for the remainder of the season by the Bulls. LOS ANGELES -- Jon Gray reached double-digit strikeouts for the sixth time this season. Nothing else came easy for him.The right-hander labored through 106 pitches over four innings, giving up four runs and three hits in Colorados 5-2 loss to the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night. The Rockies endured their 81st defeat and fourth in five games.I knew from the beginning it would be a tough day with no fastball command, Gray said. Fastball command is number one when it comes to pitching. Without that it is incredibly tough to succeed.Joc Pederson and pinch-hitter Andre Ethier hit back-to-back home runs in the fourth inning for the Dodgers after an emotional pre-game ceremony honoring Vin Scully.Both teams crowded their dugouts to watch speakers including Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax and current ace Clayton Kershaw honor Scully, who is retiring at 88 after 67 years broadcasting Dodgers games.Getting to see that takes a little sting out of that loss, Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. That was special. Vin is a special guy. You can see how everyone felt. It was very heartfelt.Gray (10-9) has 26 strikeouts in his last two games, the most in such a span in Rockies history.His stuff was crisp, he just didnt command it well, Weiss said.Their third straight victory trimmed the Dodgers magic number for clinching a record fourth consecutive NL West title to two. Their division lead increased to seven games after San Francisco lost at San Diego 7-2.Pederson worked the count to 3-2 during a nine-pitch at-bat before homering off Gray with two outs. Ethier followed with his first homer of the season into the lower right field seats, extending the Dodgers lead to 4-0.Yasmani Grandals RBI single gave Los Angeles a 2-0 lead in the first. Corey Seager scored from third and Colorado catcher Tom Murphy had his back to the plate as he fielded the throw froom right field, allowing Justin Turner to score from second.ddddddddddddRoss Stripling (5-8) got the win in relief of injured Scott Kazmir. The rookie right-hander allowed two hits in three innings, struck out four and walked two.Kenley Jansen retired the side with two strikeouts in a scoreless ninth for his 47th save in 53 chances.Kazmir allowed two hits while tossing just 19 pitches in his first start for the Dodgers since Aug. 22. He left after one inning because of spasms in his ribs and chest. The left-hander spent the past month on the disabled list with neck inflammation.Colorado scored its runs in the sixth on Nolan Arenados NL-leading 40th homer and Tom Murphys RBI single. Arenados 129 runs lead the NL and he joined Vinny Castilla (1996-98) and Andres Galarraga (1996-97) as the only Rockies hitters to post consecutive 40-homer seasons.He is doing big-time stuff, Weiss said. His first few years in the league, hes special.40 DOUBLESColorados Carlos Gonzalez doubled in the eighth, giving him 40 doubles for the first time in his career. He finished 2 for 4. Hes had six doubles in 14 games since Sept. 9.WHAT A CATCHJosh Reddick charged a ball hit by Colorados DJ LeMahieu to right field, catching it on the run and completing a cartwheel to hold the runner at third base with two outs in the third. LeMahieu went 0 for 4, ending his 38-game on-base streak and 13-game hitting streak. He continues to lead the majors with a .349 batting average.UP NEXTRockies: RHP Chad Bettis (13-7, 4.79) has career highs in victories, starts (30) and innings pitched (174 2/3). He is 0-1 with a 4.91 ERA in seven career games, including four starts, against Los Angeles.Dodgers: Kershaw (11-3, 1.73) is 7-1 with a 1.19 ERA in nine home starts. ' ' '