London, England – The United States will meet Argentina in the semifinals of the men's Olympic basketball tournament for the third straight Olympics after taking down Australia, 119-86, on Wednesday.
LeBron James had a triple-double with 11 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists for the Americans, who will do battle with the Argentines on Friday. Argentina won gold in 2004 at Athens, but the U.S. avenged that loss four years ago in Beijing while winning gold.
"I'm proud of the win, that's all that matters to me," James said. "I don't really care about me statistically. The win is more important; I'm happy to be able to move on."
Kobe Bryant ended with 20 points for the United States, which finished a perfect 5-0 in Group A during the preliminary round, including a 29-point win over Argentina in the finale.
Deron Williams and Carmelo Anthony donated 18 and 17 points, respectively, for the Americans, who improved to 16-0 all-time in Olympic quarterfinal action. Kevin Durant finished with 14 points.
Team USA went 19-of-46 from beyond the arc while improving to 7-0 all-time against Australia at the Olympics.
Patrick Mills had 26 points to lead Australia, which finished fourth in Group B during the preliminary round. Joe Ingles added 19 points and eight rebounds.
The United States seemed to have the game in control after holding a 56-42 lead at the half.
But Australia started the second half on an 11-0 run to suddenly make it a three-point contest. That proved to be as close as Australia would get the rest of the way.
Durant made a three-pointer to spark a 16-5 run. Bryant made a pair of shots from beyond the arc during the surge, which James capped with a layup for a 72-58 edge with 4:12 left in the third quarter.
The Americans took an 84-70 lead into the fourth, a period in which Bryant displayed his shooting skills. Bryant made four straight three-pointers at one point to put the finishing touches on the victory.
"On this team you really get a lot of easy shots because you play with a lot of really good players," Bryant said. "I just found myself in a really good rhythm with some daylight to shoot the ball and they were going in for me."
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