Whether it was for the gold medal, as in the last two Olympics, or just along the road to gold, the Americans figured they would see the Spanish again.
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U.S. forward Angel McCoughtry expects better intensity from her squad than any game yet in Rio now that gold is finally at stake.
The world’s top teams meet again Friday in the semifinals, with Spain getting another chance to finish the job against the USA after being oh-so-close in the last two gold-medal games.
Klay Thompson scored 22 points and Kevin Durant had 14 points as the USA defeated Spain 82-76 Friday in the semifinals.
Here are the five biggest stories to watch on Friday at the Rio Olympics.
“She’ll wake up tomorrow morning and tell us how she feels and we’ll go with that”, he said.
Still, this game has the chance to rival the 2008 gold medal game in terms of competitiveness.
How they got here: After a pair of close calls in wins over Serbia and France to close out group play, the Americans returned to form in a dominating 105-78 victory over Argentina in the quarterfinals Wednesday. This one featured several technical four and neither team got into an offensive flow.
It certainly wasn’t pretty, but Olympic gold never loses its luster. “Beating them would be a huge accomplishment for us”.
Those questions were answered in the form of a 105-78 rout against Argentina as the US extended their Olympic winning streak to 23 games. The Los Angeles Clippers center scored nine points, grabbed 16 rebounds and blocked four shots. Kyrie Irving had 13 for the United States.
Lewis was one shot behind Inbee Park of South Korea, who birdied her last two holes for another 5-under 66 and the 36-hole lead.
“I don’t think they are playing as well as other times they have played”, Gasol said.
“I am 28 years old, I am still a little young”, Jordan said. Point guard Milos Teodosic, who has one year remaining on his overseas contract before possibly coming to the National Basketball Association, scored a game-high 22 points to go with five assists.
It took the United States four tries to finally win a gold medal in women’s water polo since it became an Olympic sport in 2000. Both Australia and Serbia gave the USA problems in pool play, so a gold is nowhere near guaranteed.
Kyle Lowry came off the bench and scored five quick points late in the first quarter, including a three-pointer in the dying seconds that gave the United States of America a 26-17 lead. Anthony is the one player who has been present for that entire ride, so perhaps the goal is even more personal to him. Taurasi also set the U.S. Olympic record for most threes in a single game with six – a record she previously held.
Stefan Markovic scored 14 and Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets had 11 rebounds for the Serbs, who will get another crack at the United States. The will play Saturday for a bronze medal, not bad for a country making its Olympic debut in this sport.
The action is getting red hot in Rio, and two Olympic basketball rivals will meet on the court on August 19.
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Team Serbia delivered a blowout win against Team Australia to ensure themselves at least a silver medal at these Olympics.
