They will face the victor of Friday’s semifinal between Serbia and Australia on Sunday in the Gold medal game.
Advertisement
If Team USA wins the gold medal, they’ll set the program record with 76 consecutive wins, capping off the most dominant run in the storied history of USA basketball.
Klay Thompson led the way for the USA, scoring 22 points while hitting four of eight 3-pointers. Kyrie Irving was the third double-digit scorer and DeAndre Jordan grabbed 16 rebounds.
Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan was the biggest contributor on the boards for the United States, finishing with 13 rebounds.
“I think the key of the game was their defense”, Spain coach Sergio Scariolo said. “The difference of athleticism was what made the difference”.
Klay Thompson lead Team USA in scoring with 22 points, and considering how his offensive game has struggled in Rio, it’s encouraging for the team that he elevated his game when it really mattered.
It was the lowest-scoring game for the Americans in the Olympics since the 2004 semifinals, when they managed 81 in a loss to Argentina.
Serbia was ready for the stage – it played its best game of the Olympics.
Spain’s Pau Gasol played with a right calf injury, scored 12 points in the first quarter, and finished with a game-high 23.
Whether the moment was too big, or they were looking past a team they beat in pool play to a possible rematch with the U.S., the Boomers came out flat-footed. “It was a very hard game”. Both teams had to make big plays. “I thought our guys did that a little bit more than they did, and that’s why we won”. DeRozan (USC 2009) did not play in the game, the first time in the Olympic competition he did not log any minutes.
Coming into Friday for Day 14 of the 2016 Rio Olympics, the men’s basketball tournament had their two semifinal matchups on the docket.
The United States has shown a renewed commitment on the defensive end over the last two games.
To get past Spain again, the U.S. Olympic men’s basketball team would have to win ugly, so unusual it’s practically un-American. Australia will go for its first-ever basketball medal Sunday in the bronze medal game against Spain.
“What I would say it was a very hard game”, USA coach Mike Krzyzewski told reporters. San Antonio Spurs Gregg Popovich will succeed the Duke coach. The Serbian national team beat Australia, 87-61, in the other semifinal game. A Thompson 3-pointer and Kevin Durant jumper quickly turned a four-point game into a 16-9 US advantage early on.
“We knew when we first started training camp that there was a great, great chance that we were going to play Spain at some time”, Krzyzewski said. That’s our main goal since we got together is to win the gold. It’s fantastic. It makes the game a lot easier. It’s an awesome feeling.
Advertisement
Frank Gogola is a student in the Sports Capital Journalism Program at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.
