And a familiar foe will be waiting.
Advertisement
By the end of the first quarter, the Americans already were up 25-21, with Durant leading the charge but the initial heavy Argentine pressure had forced USA coach Mike Krzyzewski to call his first time out just four-and-a-half minutes into the game to get his team focused. They’ll face Spain Friday, a team they defeated in the Gold medal final in the last two Olympics. Less than five minutes later, it was 36-21 after the USA’s defense forced three turnovers and six missed shots, with Butler, George and Kyle Lowry joining starters DeMarcus Cousins and Kevin Durant in hounding Argentina defensively and converting at the other end.
The answer might be nothing. At least there wasn’t against Argentina.
That third-place finish matched the Americans’ worst at the Olympics, one of only three times in their 17 appearances they didn’t win gold.
Kevin Durant led the way for the US with 27 points, converting nine of his 13 shots from the field.
The U.S. opened a 25-point lead in the first half and were in control from that point, the first time since their second game in Rio they had it easy.
This is a different Team USA that swept Argentina in the 2012 Beijing Olympics in a blowout win, missing key star players like LeBron James and Kobe Bryant, that effortlessly marched through their competition.
But history says, Spain lost its four games to US in quarterfinals in 2004 Athens Olympics, 2008 Beijing Olympics for group play and finals, 2012 London Olympics finals.
If one or two of those guys isn’t willing to take a backseat offensively, US could find itself in another unnecessarily close game.
With that having been said, it will all come down to which team plays better and shows more heart on Wednesday.
Durant makes his teammates leave their seats with killer crossover and Euro step.
It was probably the last Olympics for Manu Ginobili, Luis Scola and the rest of the Golden Generation, who beat the U.S.in the Athens semifinals en route to gold.
But inside Carioca Arena 1, which has been filled with so much light blue and white during Argentina’s games that it resembles clouds in the sky, the Americans believe their undersized opponents will stand tall.
“I know what he means not just to basketball in Argentina but to the country as a whole”, said Anthony, a four-time Olympian.
He joined NBC Sports after the game to discuss what playing for Argentina meant to him.
He brings up his age and how many athletes can still compete at a high level as he is continuing to do, he praises that he is extremely lucky. Team USA will take the court again on Friday. It was an unbelievable experience. “This is my 20th year since my first game with the national team”, Ginobili said.
Ginobili probably didn’t expect to say goodbye to worldwide basketball on a losing note, but the Americans proved too much for Argentina.
“Well, of course, I started playing at 19-20 years old, and now I’m nearly 40, so of course a lot of things happened, some awesome times, unbelievable ones, some tough ones”, he said. So a lot of things happened.
“Some incredible times, some unbelievable, some really tough ones”.
When talking about playing his final game for Argentina, Manu Ginobili couldn’t help but get emotional.
“To fight against people like this, it is something I could not imagine”, he added. Leaving on the side, my family …
“They congratulated me, and I’m very proud of their words”, Ginobili said.
But once play began, the US rarely played up to those expectations, with one narrow victory after another as the competition toughened.
Shots weren’t falling early for the Americans in the first quarter, but unlike their previous two wins over Serbia and France by a combined six points, the U.S. regained form and looked like the dominant basketball force we’ve come to expect.
The Americans win, or suffer their greatest Olympic failure ever.
So did an era for the Argentines.
Advertisement
Croatia beat Lithuania 90-81 in the final preliminary round game of the Olympic men’s basketball tournament, vaulting from fifth to the top of Group B and avoiding a nightmare quarter-final clash with the unbeaten US. US stretched the lead to 87-61 after three quarters and finished off with a 27-point victory.
