BEIJING — It was presumed that all of China, and portions of the rest of the world, were watching.

That would have meant Sunday's USA-China basketball game was watched by more than a billion - more than any basketball game in history.

With that kind of audience, the Redeem Team had ideas of putting on a proper show.

And once the Chinese three-point shooters finally cooled off, the United States did just that. Beginning its quest to recapture gold following the disappointing bronze in 2004, the U.S. men's basketball team dominated the second half against host China, pulling away for a 101-70 victory in group play.

Dwyane Wade led all scorers with 19 points, and LeBron James put on a powerful performance to finish with 18.

With an overflowing Olympic Basketball Gymnasium electric with anticipation, Chinese basketball superstar Yao Ming began the game with a three-pointer and a fist pump. The U.S. team, meanwhile, answered with a turnover and two bricked three-pointers.

Offering brief reminders of the U.S. loss to Greece in the 2006 world championships, the Chinese team was nearly flawless from three-point range early, hitting eight of the first 12 threes attempted - the eighth keeping China within three points of the United States late in the second quarter.

But the Americans ended the first half on a 14-5 run, capped by a pair of Wade baskets, and led 49-37.

The United States opened the second half on a 16-8 run to take a 20-point lead and made the rest of the game look more like an exhibition than an Olympic competition. The Chinese were led by Yao's 13 points. Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard added 13 apiece for the U.S. team.

Earlier in the day, playing without its head coach and embroiled in emotion, the U.S. men's volleyball team edged Venezuela in its Olympic opener.

Head coach Hugh McCutcheon was not at the opener, and it's unclear whether he will be back for any of the squad's games. His father-in-law, Todd Bachman, was killed by a knife-wielding Chinese assailant Saturday, and his mother-in-law, Barbara Bachman, was severely injured in the attack. She underwent eight hours of surgery Saturday and is listed in critical but stable condition at a Beijing hospital.

The Bachmans' daughter Elisabeth - a 2004 Olympian for the U.S. women's volleyball team - was with her parents at the time of the attack at the tourist attraction called the Drum Tower but was not injured. She and her husband have been at the hospital most of the time since.

After the attack, the assailant committed suicide by jumping off the Drum Tower.

"We may see him," U.S. team captain Thomas Hoff said of McCutcheon. "We may not. He's got priorities and needs to take care of those things."

McCutcheon hurriedly left a team practice Saturday afternoon (Beijing time) when he got a call about the stabbings. The team has not seen him since. They were told about the incident by U.S. Olympic Committee officials a few hours later.

The Bachmans, from Minnesota, were longtime U.S. volleyball supporters and members of both the men's and women's volleyball teams here knew them relatively well. When the men's team was told of the attack, player Lloy Ball said: "Our knee-jerk reaction was we were angry, we were upset, and we wanted to talk to our friends and family."

The U.S. team huddled for a moment of silence before playing Venezuela. The U.S. team won the first two sets, lost the next two and then squeaked out the win, 25-18, 25-18, 22-25, 21-25, 15-10. It next plays Tuesday (Beijing time) against Italy.

Also Sunday:

— On the soccer pitch in the industrial city of Tianjin, Gerald Sibon scored in the third minute of extra time as the Netherlands salvaged a 2-2 draw with the United States' men's team. Sacha Klejstan and Jozy Altidore scored the U.S. goals.

"It's always disappointing to concede a goal in the dying minutes," Klejstan told the Olympic News Service, but I'm proud of the way we played and I'm very proud of my teammates."

The team heads to Beijing for Wednesday's final group game vs. Nigeria.

— China and the United States led the eight qualifiers for the women's gymnastics team finals.

— Defending men's basketball champion Argentina fell in the final seconds to Lithuania as Linas Kleiza of the Denver Nuggets made a go-ahead 3-pointer with 2.1 seconds left to play.

— Defending champs Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor won their opening beach volleyball match, taking a 21-12, 21-15 decision over Miki Saiki and Chiaki Kusuhara of Japan. In men's action, Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal defeated Emiel Boersma and Bram Ronnes of the Netherlands, 21-16, 21-15,

— The U.S. men's water polo team opened its games with an 8-4 victory over host China at the Yingdong Natatorium. Tony Azevedo scored five times for the Americans.

— Kelci Bryant and Ariel Rittenhouse placed fourth in the women's synchronized 3-meter springboard. China's Guo Jingjing and Wu Minxia won the gold with a score of 343.50.

— The U.S. field hockey team rallied from a two-goal deficit to tie Argentina. In one the better game of the day, Australia came back from a three-goal hole to beat Korea.

— Christine Magnuson claimed the silver medal in the women's 100m butterfly with a time of 57.10 seconds, 0.37 behind gold medalist Lisbeth Trickett of Australia.

— Brendan Hansen placed fourth in the men's 100m breaststroke. Hansen's time of 59.57 seconds was 0.66 off the pace set by gold medalist Kosuke Kitajima of Japan, who erased Hansen's world record with a time of 58.91.

— In a squeaker, Katie Hoff was edged out of a gold medal in the women's 400m freestyle by Great Britain's Rebecca Adlington, who touched the wall with a 4:03.22, a mere 0.07 seconds ahead of Hoff.