U.S. bounces Argentina, clinches No. 1 seed in FIBA semifinals

"Argentina is Argentina," Anthony said. "The guys they had out there was still good players, we couldn't sleep on them. We studied film just as if they were going to have their whole team. We wish that their main players were here, but obviously they couldn't be here. We had to take care of business regardless."

That left Luis Scola, who scored 20 points, and Carlos Delfino as the mainstays of those teams who opted to play. A victory over Brazil on Saturday would guarantee their teammates could return in Beijing.

"We've been doing a great job in this tournament, but I don't believe in stars," Scola said. "At the end of the game, it's what you did. Today we were down 26, 28, but the reserves come in and we finished down 15. Everybody has to do what it takes."

And while they had won their first seven games here, it hadn't been easy for the Argentineans. They were forced to overtime twice, including Wednesday night's victory over Brazil in which they erased a 17-point deficit, and were playing for the eighth straight day.

The Americans quickly jumped on them, as Bryant made three 3-pointers and was 6-of-8 from the field in the first quarter to help open a 28-13 lead. The U.S. lead was 49-30 at halftime, with the Americans shooting 59 percent from the field. Argentina missed 11 of 12 3-point attempts in the first 20 minutes.

"It was a little stagnant at the start and I came out and got hot early and we rode that for a little bit and helped us get off to a quick start," Bryant said.

The lead grew to 25 in the third quarter when Bryant raced upcourt with a loose ball, shook off a bump near midcourt by putting the ball between his legs, and made a layup while being fouled with 4:09 left in the third.