RTR0271.R3S27

RTR0271 3 SPO 172 BC-OLYMPICS-BASKETBALL :BC-OLYMPICS-BASKETBALL U.S. DREAM TEAM BEAT CROATS 103-70 By Larry Fine BARCELONA, July 27, Reuter - The Dream Team were on a mission against Croatia on Monday and turned up the intensity for a 103-70 victory against the best competition they have faced so far. Even before the game, when a rare 'Can you top this,'' dunking drill flowed during the U.S. warmup, it was clear the millionaire superstars from the NBA were psyched to be their best against the Croats, many of whom had won silver with the Yugoslavia team in 1988. Faced with familiar NBA faces in Drazen Petrovic and Stojko Vrankovic and the highly touted Toni Kukoc -- who once appeared poised to take away the job of one of the Dream Team's stars -- the U.S. Olympic team came out firing. They ran up a margin of 46-22 before three successive three- pointers from Petrovic closed the gap, which stood at 54-37 at halftime. Magic Johnson, as usual, ran the show until he limped off the court with a strained right knee. The injury was not considered serious, but Magic did not return to action. MORE LF DT 272039 GMT jul 92 272256 MET jul 92