What was anybody ever worried about? So much for all of that negative buzz about Team USA being vulnerable to an upset.
It wasn’t a smooth ride all the way through, but the final score of 105-78 over Team Argentina should ease some anxiety regarding Team USA’s status as the premier squad in the world.
Despite falling behind 19-9 to start the game, Team USA went on a 38-8 run at one point that blew the game out of reach.
In what was likely the final game of an era for Team Argentina, they couldn’t replicate their memorable upset of Team USA in the 2004 Olympics.
Final: USA 105, @cabboficial 78@KDTrey5 27pts/7rebs/6asts | @Yg_Trece 17pts/8rebs
Recap: https://t.co/LTWvsojN5Z pic.twitter.com/JDI2rohtKg
— USA Basketball (@usabasketball) August 17, 2016
Guys like Manu Ginobili and Luis Scola likely played in their final Olympic game after a fantastic career in which they helped lead Argentina to a gold medal in 2004.
By the early 2000s, the rest of the world had caught up to the USA, and perhaps no team showed the growth of international basketball quite like Argentina.
Kevin Durant lead Team USA with 27 points in this game, and went 7-9 from 3-point range. He passed Michael Jordan for 4th all time on the Team USA scoring list in the process.
The other Warriors players didn’t perform as well as Durant, though. Klay Thompson had a bad shooting game, going 0-6 from 3-point range and scoring only 4 points. Draymond Green had a team-low 1 point on 0-5 shooting from the field.
#USABMNT Guard @klow7 chats with @SportsCenter following tonight's #Rio2016 victory. pic.twitter.com/JRlB4ltcCI
— USA Basketball (@usabasketball) August 18, 2016
Team USA has now won 74 straight games, and haven’t lost since the FIBA Championships in 2006 to Team Greece.
Team USA will play Team Spain next in the semifinals for a chance to advance to the gold medal game.
These two teams have previously played in the finals of both the 2008 Olympics as well as the 2012 Olympics, with Team USA coming out on top each time.
Team Spain started off this tournament 0-2, but have bounced back nicely to earn a spot in the semifinals, despite not having Marc Gasol for these Olympics.
Team USA has regained that aura of dominance after numerous close wins. What has always been abundantly clear, though, is that this is their tournament to win. If they play to the peak of their abilities, no team can stop them.