USA breeze past Argentina to set up Spanish gold showdown

Spain edged out Lithuania 91-86 in the earlier semi-final to claim their second-ever Olympic final against the United States.

The US team of high profile superstars led by Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony were hellbent on revenge for their humbling Athens 2004 semi-final loss to Argentina, led by Manu Ginobili and a group of fellow NBA players.

The chastened United States had to settle for the bronze after Argentina vanquished them 89-81 in Athens ending their bid for a fourth consecutive gold medal.

But it was hardly a contest yesterday as they ran up a big early lead and always had enough in reserve to put paid to the South Americans, urged on by football legend Diego Maradona in the crowd.

Anthony, the Denver Nuggets forward, led the American scoring with 21 points, which included 13 from 13 free throws, ahead of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ James with 15, including three three-pointers. Bryant, a day before his 30th birthday, chipped in with 12.

“Argentina play very physical and with a big heart,” Miami Heat’s Dwayne Wade said. “That is what makes them a big team, their heart. You don’t want to let them grow in confidence.”

Wade said he expected Spain to acquit themselves better in the final than in the preliminaries where USA won 119-82. “They will come out better than they did in our preliminary match. They are good at executing and are dangerous. We have a job to finish.”

Argentina skipper Luis Scola of the Houston Rockets fired a game-high 28 points and he had to shoulder the load after Ginobili, their high-profile shooting guard with San Antonio Spurs, withdrew early from the game with an ankle injury.

“We gave away the first quarter and we paid a very expensive price for that,” Argentina forward Carlos Delfino said. “After that it was an uphill battle, especially after Manu Ginobili’s injury. We didn’t do what we planned and you cannot afford that against a team like the USA.”

Team doctor Diego Grippo said Ginobili injured his left ankle while running and may miss Sunday’s bronze medal match against Lithuania.

The Americans exploded out the blocks and led 21-4 deep into the first quarter before Argentina began to peg them back through rebounds and sloppy American shooting.

Team USA led by 19 points after the first quarter, but the defending champions led by Scola whittled the margin down to eight points after a run of 11 straight points with 4:11 left in the half.

Bryant and Anthony steadied the Americans but again Argentina, urged on by the capacity crowd, clawed back trail 46-40 just seconds before halftime. Anthony converted three free throws to send Team USA to a 49-40 halftime advantage.

Argentina took up the challenge for a time against the American NBA superstars without Ginobli, who left the game after just 6:26 of action in the first quarter.

The Americans dominated the third quarter 29-24 to lead by 16 points heading into the final period. It was all academic as the cream of the NBA went through the motions winning the final period 23-15 to wrap up a comprehensive victory.