Tokyo Olympics: USA men's basketball team beat Spain to reach last four
USA basketball team
03-08-2021 02:33 PM
Ammon News - Team USA beat Spain for the fourth Olympics in a row as they reached the semi-finals in Tokyo with a 95-81 win.
Spain led by 11 points (40-29) in the second quarter thanks to some fierce defence and the scoring of Ricky Rubio.
But the defending champions came roaring back to level it at 43-43 by the break and took control in the third quarter.
Once again, Kevin Durant topped the USA scoring with 29, while Rubio finished with 38 for the losers.
The USA will now take on either Argentina or Australia, who play in the last of the four quarter-finals at 13:00 BST.
"We drove it to the rim at the end of the second and were able to get our rhythm back a little bit," said Durant, who plays with NBA side the Brooklyn Nets.
"I like how we played from the end of the second quarter all the way up to finish the game and that's how winners play ball."
The Americans came into the game with a 16-2 Olympic and World Cup record against the team ranked just below them at second in the world.
They had also beaten the Spaniards in the 2016 Olympic semi-finals and in the 2008 and 2012 finals.
Earlier, Slovenia, led by Dallas Mavericks star Luca Doncic, secured their semi-final spot with a 94-70 success over Germany and they will face France, who beat Italy 84-75.
Rudy Gobert and Evan Fournier were the key figures for the French, who defeated Team USA earlier in the tournament, with 22 and 21 points respectively while Nicolas Batum had 15 points and 10 rebounds.
*BBC