This time, LeBron James and company made sure there was no controversial ending this time.

With their perfect 8-0 record, the U.S.A. won their second consecutive gold medal with a 107-100 victory over Spain. Much like the final game in 2008, this one wasn’t decided until the final minutes of the fourth quarter, as the Spaniards got to within six with about three minutes left.

Unwilling to let his team lose like so many times in this Olympics, James scored five points off a monsterous dunk and a dagger-like 3-pointer in the final 2:50 to essentially close out Spain’s chances. He would finish with 19 points, seven rebounds, four assists, and two steals; he also did something that only Michael Jordan had done before – win a NBA MVP, NBA championship and a gold medal all in the same year.

In just his first Olympics, Kevin Durant once again led the team with 30 points and nine rebounds, making five 3-pointers in the process. He finished with the most points for a U.S. player in a single Olympics with 156, showcasing his impressive scoring prowess on an international stage. Throughout all of the team’s games, he made offense look easy, scoring from as far as 30 feet.

That’s not to say that Spain didn’t have their potential heroes in this one, however. Lakers forward Pau Gasol nearly willed his team to victory by himself, scoring 24 points, grabbing eight rebounds and dishing out seven assists. FC Barcelona’s and former Memphis Grizzly Juan Carlos Navarro scored 21 points, and Gasol’s brother Marc shot 80% from the field and scored 17 points.

Unfortunately for the Spanish national team, it was just not enough once again. They used a 31-24 second quarter to pull within one at halftime, and the score stayed that way after a 24-all third quarter – a frame that had been the deciding factor in many of the U.S.’ victories.

As both teams fought back and forth in the fourth quarter, neither could pull away, and the six-point lead was the most that the Americans could keep, until James had his mini-outburst, putting the U.S. up 102-93 with under two minutes to play. Once the game went final, Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” began playing over the stadium’s sound system, a fitting ending to one of the more exciting games of these 2o12 Olympic games.

Some eye-popping stats from the 2012 tournament:

• The Americans came in leading the tournament in several statistical categories, including:
• Points per game (115.5)
• 2-point and 3-point shooting percentage (60 and 44, respectively)
• Points off turnovers (198-77)
• Fast-break points (175-55)
• Total points (924; next closest was Argentina with 690)

While this tournament marked a huge milestone for U.S.A. basketball, the NBA has hinted that they might consider imposing an under-23 age limit for their Olympic representatives; if that came to fruition, just one player on this current roster, Anthony Davis, would be eligible by the 2016 Olympics. While the older players on the team, specifically Kobe Bryant, has expressed that this was his final Olympic run, most of the players on the roster don’t want an age limit. What do you think – should the NBA limit their players like this?

Granted, this is closer to baseless speculation than informed speculation, but putting two and two together, the Pistons could conceivably be working on a trade with the Bobcats.

The first bit of evidence comes from 97.1 FM’s recent interview with GM Joe Dumars. Courtesy of Piston Powered:

Joe Dumars spoke with Matt Dery of 97.1 The Ticket last night and indicated a trade might be coming. Dumars said he was five minutes late to the interview because he was on the phone with another team.

Two conversations I had with teams today, and they say, “You know what? Uh, that might work for us, but, you know, got to go and talk to the owner, got to go and talk to my head coach, and I’ll get back to you. So, you know, am I close? I hope so. I hope so.

So why the Bobcats? Intuitively it makes sense, and I’m sure I’m grasping at the thinnest of straws here, but ESPN’s Chad Ford, always someone with a close line to the Pistons inner-workings, chatted today and said this:

Pistons have been close on a few things with Rip, almost landed Tyson Chandler this summer … but he’s not helping himself right now. I think Charlotte is one of the few teams out there with genuine interest.

That the Bobcats could be dance partners with Detroit shouldn’t be too much of a surprise as the Cats are struggling, and are coached by Larry Brown, who won a championship with the Pistons in ’04 and who would probably value Pistons vets Tayshaun Prince and Richard Hamilton more than most.

Hopefully such a trade could be as successful as the last time these two teams hooked up: the lopsided traded that netted Detroit significant salary relief by shipping Nazr Mohammed, who the Bobcats are still paying, and in return got two funky, foreign white guys: the giant-handed, headband-wearing, Fabio-like Walter Hermmann and the awkward, gangly Primoz Brezec.

What a possible trade might look like is not an easy question to answer. Might the Bobcats be willing to unload Gerald Wallace? Doubtful unless the Pistons throw in sweeteners (Austin Daye, Jonas Jerebko). If, like last time, the Bobcats are looking to improve and the Pistons are looking for salary relief, what about a Richard Hamilton, Jason Maxiell for the two more funky, foreign guys: the expiring deal of Boris Diaw and the corpse of Desagana Diop?

If that trade were made, the Pistons would have nearly $20 million coming off their books after the season in Prince and Diaw and would surely net themselves the high lottery pick they seem likely to nab already. It relieves the logjam at SG, and gives the Pistons a defensive-minded back-up center, granted one whose offensive game makes Ben Wallace look like Kevin Durant.

They say lightning doesn’t strike twice, but whoever said that probably didn’t know that Michael Jordan would someday be the general manager of an NBA franchise.