Once entering the game, it was George that made the most of shifting the tides, forcing the Argentina offense into a convoluted mess. Creating a “Big Three” with Tim Duncan and Tony Parker, Ginobili played a pivotal role in four National Basketball Association championships.
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Team USA will have another matchup with Spain in the Olympics. But we played with passion and energy. “The only way you get better is by playing these tough games, so relief I would not use, I’d say we were just better tonight and more of who we can be”. The atmosphere came not from deafening pop music played in a half-empty arena, but thousands of singing, dancing, flag-waving, whistling Argentines and the Brazilians who chanted “U-S-A” right back at them as they rooted against their neighbors.
United States of America requires the combination of Kevin Durant and Paul George force when battling Spain. They will play Spain on Friday in a rematch of the last two gold-medal games.
Australia is through to the semis, against the victor of Wednesday’s final game between Croatia and Serbia. “Xs and Os is good, we went over a lot”. Spain easily defeated France in their quarterfinal match 92-67.
Team USA barely eked out a win over Argentina that started off with a bang but Kevin Durant’s 27 points on 9-of-13 from shooting and Paul George’s massive defense proved as game changer after initial period.
“I was telling myself before I left my room that I’m at my best when I don’t care if we win or lose”, Durant said after his best game of these Olympics with 27 points, seven rebounds and six assists against Argentina.
“We wanted to come out and our whole thing was dominating”, forward Carmelo Anthony said.
For a moment, at least, it looked that way when Argentina led early in their knockout round game with the US.
Durant was 7-9 from three point range, which made the rest of Team USA an abysmal 4-24.
“I just didn’t care about the outcome of the game”, Durant said.
It’s also worth mentioning that those four veterans were a key part of the Argentine team that upset Team USA in the 2004 Olympics and went on to win the gold medal in men’s basketball. By the start of the fourth, the US was up 87-61.
As Collins said, this is the Paul George we see in the National Basketball Association, and especially when he was in the game, the U.S. looked much more like the world beaters they should be.
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Point guard Facundo Campazzo hardly noticed Kyrie Irving was guarding him as he hit four early buckets, while Luis Scola, Manu Ginobili and Andres Nocioni all chipped in on the offensive end as Argentina hit nine of its first 12 shots.
