Beijing — Four years after losing to a commonwealth (Puerto Rico) in Athens to open Olympic play, it probably would have been a mistake to just assume the U.S. basketball team could thump a nation of 1.3 billion in its first tournament game in Beijing.

Then again, Yao Ming can only hit threes for so long.

Johnny Crawford/jcrawford@ajc.com (ENLARGE)

Michael Redd lays in a dunk as Team USA beat host China 101-70 as Olympic basketball opened play Sunday.

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Yao, the hometown deity, hit a three-point shot 25 seconds into the game against the United States on Sunday, giving China a 3-0 lead and causing the player who was guarding him, Dwight Howard, to look around and make sure he was in the right building.

But, no, there wasn't a repeat of that 92-73 point loss to Puerto Rico in 2004, which led new USA basketball executive Jerry Colangelo to flush the roster. Howard, recovering nicely from Yao's early moon shot, scored the U.S.'s first four points and finished with 13 in a 101-70 win over China.

This was kind of a big game for Howard. He's only 22, the youngest player on the team (seven months younger than Chris Paul). He is a first-time Olympian. And he's been looking forward to this since he was, like, 7.

"I had the Wheaties Box with the Dream Team on it in my room," he said. "I wanted to be part of a Dream Team, too."

Until Sunday, Howard's connection to the Olympics had been limited to: 1) The Wheaties Box; 2) watching his sister dance in the Opening Ceremonies on television in 1996; 3) going to day of gymnastics in the '96 Games in Atlanta because he had a crush on Dominique Dawes.

"I've been waiting to be in the Olympics since I was a kid," he said. "I wanted to be one of those sprinters — run the 100 meters."

Howard remembers watching the highlights of the loss to Puerto Rico four years ago. His reaction should tell you all you need to know about why he's on the team.

"I was mad," he said. "Just us losing the game hurt. I'm an NBA player, representing the United States of America — I was devastated."

The United States went 24-0 in 1992, '96 and 2000, winning three gold medals, then with 5-3 with a bronze in Athens. Bronze is not the element this team is accustomed to.

"We have a lot riding on this," Howard said. "We can't get caught up in how each of us play in the States. All of us come from teams where we're the lead guy. We're the person who has to make a lot of things happen. This team right here, all of us have different roles. In order to win and be successful, we have to play as a team and not let our egos get in the way."