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USA displayed their force once again as they powered through a dominating 109-83 win over Argentina to arrange a gold-medal showdown with Spain in the men’s basketball competition of the 2012 London Olympics.
Kevin Durant exploded for 19 points and shot 5-for-10 from the three-point line, while LeBron James had another all-around performance as he finished with 18 points to go with seven rebounds and seven assists.
Carmelo Anthony had another sizzling performance, reminiscent of his explosion against Nigeria in the preliminary round, as he finished with 18 points, highlighted by four consecutive three-pointers in the final period.
Anthony, who recorded the most points in a single-game in USA Basketball history when he torched Nigeria with 37 points with 10-for-12 three-point shooting, vowed not to slow down until they bag the gold medal.
“Anything less than this would have been unsatisfying for us,” Anthony said. “We believe that we could get here and we’re here now. We got one game left.”
USA had a great start, but Argentina managed to hang on with the much-favored and much-talented American squad before Durant and James exploded in the third period.
Ahead by only four points after a three-pointer by Manu Ginobili early in the third period, Durant knocked down two-straight three-pointers in an 8-0 rally, highlighted by a thunderous dunk from James.
USA led by as much as 19 points in the third period and never looked back as Anthony took his own turn to torch Argentina with four three-pointers in the final period and dominated for the rest of the way.
“Anybody on this team can get going at any point. That’s the dangerous part of this team,” Anthony said. “You never know who’s going to get it going. Tonight, Kobe started it. Durant got it going and I got hot out there, too.”
USA and Spain will collide on Sunday for the gold medal in a rematch of their title showdown in the 2008 Beijing Olympics in which the Americans escaped with a hard-earned 118-107 win to reclaim the gold medal.
2012 London Olympics Men’s Basketball Semifinals
Argentina vs USA Box Score
(Click for Larger Image)
SOURCE: london2012.fiba.com
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