LAS VEGAS -- A new and improved U.S. team was too good for Argentina's B team.
Kobe Bryant scored 27 points -- 15 in the first quarter -- and the United States cruised into the semifinals of the FIBA Americas tournament as the No. 1 seed by beating Argentina 91-76 Thursday night.
The Americans took control early and were never threatened in the matchup with the defending Olympic gold medalists, who also came in undefeated despite playing this qualifying tournament without the core of their team.
"Tonight we had in the back of our minds was going to be one of the biggest games of the tournament," Carmelo Anthony said. "We knew that, we knew we had to come out here and be aggressive."
Anthony added 18 points and LeBron James had 15 for the Americans, who will face Puerto Rico in Saturday's second semifinal game. A victory there gives them a berth in the 2008 Olympics.
"We're honored to be going in undefeated and playing Puerto Rico for an Olympic berth," U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski said.
The berth seems likely for a U.S. team (8-0) that had overwhelmed its opponents before playing their toughest foe in the finale of round-robin play.
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| Kobe finishes with a team-high 27 points, including 15 in the first quarter. (Getty Images) |
While this game was closer, it wasn't much harder. Bryant hit his first three shots to get the Americans off to a quick start, and they led by as many as 25 points in a game that was never in doubt after the opening minutes.
"The U.S. is difficult enough to play with the score, let alone when you are 10, 15 points down," Argentina coach Sergio Hernandez said. "It was a more physical game than we wanted to play. We wanted to play a smart game, control the ball, but we were down too fast."
The anticipated game brought the most energetic crowd of the poorly attended tournament -- Las Vegas entertainment icon Wayne Newton had a courtside seat -- with a group of singing, flag-waving Argentineans sometimes drowned out by chants of "USA! USA!"
Argentina beat the U.S. in the 2002 world championships, then did it again in the semifinals of the Athens Olympics. The Americans avenged that loss with a victory in the bronze medal game at last year's worlds.
But the Argentineans arrived in Las Vegas without some of the top players from those teams. Manu Ginobili and Fabricio Oberto, starters for the NBA champion San Antonio Spurs, opted to rest this summer along with Chicago's Andres Nocioni and Charlotte's Walter Herrmann.
