Three nights after finishing pool play with a win over France to go 5-0 atop Group A, albeit by the third single-digit margin in a row, USA Basketball’s Men’s National Team took the floor in the quarterfinal knockout game against the Argentinian National Team, the fourth seed out of Group B.
Head coach Mike Kryzyzewski once again started Golden State Warriors shooting guard Klay Thompson, to go along with NBA teammate Kevin Durant at small forward, Kyrie Irving at point guard, Carmelo Anthony at power forward and DeMarcus Cousins at center.
Argentina started Facundo Campazzo at point guard, Manu Ginobili at shooting guard, Fabricio Garino at small forward, Andres Nocioni at power forward, and Luis Scola at center.
1st Quarter – Campazzo Who?
Durant started the USA scoring once again at the free throw line, getting fouled on the first possession. But after a missed three by Anthony, Scola scored a layup scoop in transition.
Then Campazzo heated up and got a runner over Irving after ‘Melo missed again. Kyrie tried to come back with an attack, but got caught with an offensive elbow to Campazzo, and after Thompson made a traveling jump-stop, Scola scored inside past Anthony.
Anthony then missed again, but got his own rebound, fired the ball out to Klay, who missed, but got ‘Melo got another rebound and found Durant for three over the rotating Campazzo.
Ginobili missed a leaning triple attempt, but Durant made a bad pass up top to Irving, Campazzo stole it, and made a running layup on the fast break over Irving.
Then Irving missed a three up top and Campazzo went at Kyrie again, crossing him over and finishing impressively with a lefty over the helping, jumping Jordan.
Finally, Durant hit a jumper from straightaway to stem the tide, closing USA back to within 10-7, but Garino went past Thompson on a backdoor and scored a layup.
After Klay missed another three, this time from the right wing, Ginobili hit a nice reverse layup going past two defenders, then George missed a three, and Coach K called timeout as Argentina took a 14-7 lead.
Later after the timeout, George rescued USA as Thompson missed again from distance, but got the offensive rebound and banker put-back.
But Campazzo wasn’t done and got a shotclock-beating runner over Jordan again, then after Jordan made a bad pass, stole the ball and found Nocioni for three on the left wing.
Just like that, Argentina went up, 19-9.
Klay came back with a dribble-and-pop to end the mini-drought, Campazzo made a bad pass, George stole it, outlet to Irving, and Kyrie found Durant for a splash from the left arc.
George followed that up with another steal and finished with a dunk at the break, just past Ginobili racing back. Argentina took a timeout as USA closed back to within 19-16.
Later, Durant hit a three on a catch-and-shoot from the left wing delivered by Jimmy Butler, Butler dished again after Scola was short on an inside try, shoveling the ball to Cousins under the rim, then Durant also found Cousins once more inside, and with thirty seconds remaining, Team USA turned the tables and had a 25-21 lead.
To close things out, the United States played great rotation defense as Cousins closed out on the final shooter, Nocioni, at the shotclock buzzer. George got the rebound off the rim, led the break, and assisted KD for a long triple by the left hashmark, but the shot went in and out.
Durant led all scorers with 13 points and 4 assists and either scored or assisted on 19 of Team USA’s 25 points, off-setting Argentina’s 10-for-16 start from the field.
2nd Quarter – The KD And Kyrie Show
With the hot hand, KD started the second stanza and after a Cousins and-one against Scola, hit a three from the left arc after initially missing from the top, after Butler got the offensive rebound and was able to help KD reload.
Durant, on fire, gave a gunslinger pose in celebration as USA went up, 33-21.
Team USA started pulling away and, after Anthony made a tough left baseline fall-away, Irving crossed Nicolas Laprovittola twice to make this pretty floater:
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Draymond Green checked in for the first time shortly after that, George hit a three, and later, Durant got a steal, but then got the ball knocked away, turning it right back over.
After a strong take inside by Butler, Ginobili blocked a jumper by Klay, but Thompson managed to secure the rebound and found Butler inside for a layup.
Ginobili missed a lefty try, KD got the rebound, and led the break, finding Lowry for a triple from the left arc, to give USA a 54-29 lead.
After Ginobili finally scored a bucket, Durant employed Manu’s famous Euro-step to the fullest extent:
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The exquisite crossover, step, and crossing-the-lane fade put the United States up, 56-31, before a layup by Niocini after a timeout broke Argentina’s drought.
Before the last play, Coach K reinserted Green for defense in place of Cousins and, after Argentina turned the ball over, put Klay back in, but Butler took the last shot, a missed three.
Still, USA held a 56-40 lead heading into the halftime. Durant had amassed 18 points and 5 assists by this point.
3rd Quarter –
Durant opened the second half with two triples and Thompson added a layup. Cousins added a driving lefty hook past Scola before Ginobili stopped the bleeding with an “and-one” past Cousins to make it 78-58, USA.
George later executed his own Euro-step, and after Nocioni’s post-up on Lowry went too hard off board, Durant took the ball up the court and pulled up from the right wing for three more, prompting another timeout by Argentina as Team USA took an 80-58 lead with 1:34 to play in the third. KD was now 7-for-9 on threes.
Scola decided to try a few threes after the timeout and got one to drop, but Cousins was too strong inside, flipping in a put-back of Butler’s missed triple.
The United States took an 87-61 lead into the final frame after Butler missed another buzzer-beater attempt on a nice outlet by KD.
4th Quarter –
Green finally came in for Durant, who finished the night with 27 points on 9-for-13 field, to go along with 7 rebounds and 6 assists.
After an airball on a runner, Draymond stripped Scola down low on a post-up, then missed a three-pointer from the left wing, but got to the line later and buried one of two free throws.
After another miss on a runner inside, Green committed a turnover, then Harrison Barnes made an appearance and closed out the game with Green, DeMar DeRozan, Butler, and Lowry.
DeRozan made a steal of a backup Argentinian guard in the backcourt and went with a 360-degree dunk in spectacular fashion.
Barnes added a swish from the deep left wing, and USA went on to win, 105-78.
Klay finished with just 4 points on 2-for-8 shooting, but also had 4 rebounds, while Draymond tallied 1 point, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists.
Team USA will now face Spain in the semifinals, two nights from now.
(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @odepee)
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