Team USA once again had their big names in Carmelo Anthony, DeMarcus Cousins and Kevin Durant struggle to get anything consistent going but it’s alright because Klay Thompson and DeAndre Jordan were there to save the day. The 2016 U.S. Olympic Men’s Basketball Team beat Spain 82-76 on Friday afternoon at Carioca Arena 1 in Rio de Janeiro to advance to the Gold Medal game on Sunday afternoon.
Klay Thompson led the way for Team USA playing 35 minutes, scoring 22 points and shooting 4-8 from three-point range. DeAndre Jordan also had a solid day scoring nine points, grabbing a Team USA Olympics record 16 rebounds and he also had four blocks.
Kevin Durant did score 14 points on the day but shot 6-13 from the field and was also in foul trouble early on in the game. DeMarcus Cousins fouled out after only playing 10 minutes, scoring two points and grabbing three rebounds. Team USA elder statesman, Carmelo Anthony, scored seven point on the day shooting an atrocious 2-11 from the field.
For Spain, Pau Gasol led the way for them scoring 23 points with eight rebounds, Sergio Rodriguez scored 11 points while handing out five assists. In what is expected to be his final Olympics, Spain captain Juan Carlos Navarro scored nine points in 14 minutes of action. Coming off a hot 23 point game against France, Nikola Mirotic also struggled with foul trouble of his own and only recorded seven points.
Team USA might have been most fearful of Spain going into the knockout stage and it showed at time on the court with their often hesitant play and quick shot taking. Now that they have advanced to the Gold medal game and await either an Australia team, who they have a recent history with, or the Serbian team with some legit scoring threats.
In the gold medal game at 2:45 (EDT) on Aug. 21, the USA will take on the winner of tonight’s second semifinal between Australia (5-1) and Serbia (4-2), which will be played at 6 p.m. (EDT). Spain will face the loser of Australia-Serbia in the bronze medal game at 10:30 a.m. (EDT) on Aug. 21.
