Argentina’s hopes of beating the US men’s basketball squad in their quarterfinals match at the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games on Wednesday lasted just 10 minutes, with the much younger Team USA dealing out a 105-78 tutorial to the South American squad, a result that many had expected.
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The USA-Spain victor will move on to the final on Sunday, Aug. 21 at 2:45 p.m. ET.
Durant scored USA’s only seven points in the first five minutes of the game and the Americans trailed 14-7.
The game will feature a number of current or former National Basketball Association players from both sides including team leaders and past National Basketball Association champions Pau Gasol, Spain’s center, and French point guard Tony Parker. The run extended to 27-2 as United States of America opened a 36-21 lead in the second quarter and took a 56-40 advantage into halftime.
The onslaught continued in the second quarter.
“We got our swagger back, offensively and defensively”, Team USA guard Paul George, a three-time NBA All-Star, declared to reporters. The Americans led 56-40 at halftime.
Speaking after the game, Durant said that it was Team USA’s “passion (and) energy” that changed for the better in their win over Argentina. “That was the big difference”. With Team USA scheduled to face Spain in a semifinal game on Friday, Durant believes that the team would need to continue being “one unit” just like they were when they routed the Argentines.
Facundo Campazzo had powered the early assault by Argentina, but once George checked in, that came to an end. “It was a wake-up call for us. They’ve got to have players that if they don’t get a shot, they’re not just going to stand around and mope”.
As for his breakout performance, Durant said, “When I got the ball I looked to be aggressive. I just tried to play and be free out there and not worry about anything”. “I had a good one-on-one matchup every time so I tried to take advantage”.
Argentina’s loss signals the end of an era for that nation, as Manu Ginobili has played in his final Olympics (Andres Nocioni announced his worldwide retirement following the game).
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This semifinal game is earlier than these two squads are accustomed to playing one another, but there’s still a lot on the line. Even Dallas Mavericks forward Harrison Barnes scored, coming off the bench to play the final 5:50 and hitting a 3-pointer. This time around, however, stalwarts like Manu Ginobili, Andres Nocioni, Luis Scola and Carlos Delfino – NBA veterans, all – could only watch as a younger and fresher Team USA roared past them and into the semifinals of the 2016 Olympics. This was probably their last action in the Olympics.
