Nobody expected it to be this easy. Then again, maybe they did. There was a party on the court Saturday afternoon in Rio de Janeiro and the only ones celebrating were Team USA.

It was hard not to see this coming. The display of dominance all 2016 Olympics was simply incredible. Then Team USA put an exclamation point on it all, dismantling Spain, 101-72, to capture its sixth-straight gold medal.

“It was pretty incredible,” guard Diana Taurasi said to NBC Sports. “We had a goal to win the gold medal, but there was something else we wanted to get across; that this is probably the best team sport that you can play and we made it that the whole time. 

“It’s not about one person, one coach. It was about, ‘How can we make this the best basketball team ever?’ It wasn’t easy. It doesn’t matter what the scores were. A lot of people had to sacrifice to get to what we did. It just feels really good.”

Perfection, once again, was reached thanks to five players in double figures, including 17 more from Taurasi — the heart and soul of Team USA. Lindsay Whalen came off the bench to score 17, Maya Moore poured in 14, Breanna Stewart added 11, and Elena Della Donne chipped in 10.

Team USA shot 59 percent (41-of-70) for the game, including a remarkable 9-for-15 from 3-point range, with 29 assists. It also out-rebounded Spain, 51-28.

Spain, which was led by Alba Torrens with a game-high 18 points, did not go down quietly early, though, as Team USA only led by four following the first quarter. But then the floodgates opened with a 49-32 halftime lead, and the party started.

A gold medal around each player’s necks. The National Anthem over the gymnasium speakers. This is what took place in the aftermath of the finals, what it is all about.

An incredible run, no doubt, one that some consider the greatest of all-time.

And understandably so.

“I hope so. I hope it’s the best ever because I know everyone at home is going to keep working to be better than this team,” Taurasii added. “When you think of the USA, you think of basketball. There are so many people that play it, that love it, that put everything into it from AAU, high school, YMCA. There’s a lot of countries that bleeds things, and we bleed basketball.”