The opening game of the Olympics was against Cuba. Although the USA had played Cuba several times during their exhibition tour, and won handily, none of those games counted. A loss in the preliminary round wouldn't eliminate the team form medal contention, but a second loss would, so there was additional pressure. The USA team was playing in front of a home crowd, and played tight in the beginning, while Cuba hit six of their first eight shots to take a 14–7 lead. The team settled down, helped by a spark from the reserves, and went on to win 101–84. The second game was against Ukraine, another team they had played in exhibition, but a team that had done well against the US, worrying VanDerveer. This time, the result would not be so close, and the USA team won their second game 98–65.