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The United States were victorious 95-81 despite a valiant
38-point effort from Spain's Ricky Rubio. Spain had a 10 point
lead late in the second quarter when the United States came
roaring back.
"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 ended up
with 29 points. "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 Saitama Super Arena north of Tokyo was the fullest it has
been so far in these spectatorless Games, as athletes, officials
and volunteers gathered for what would have been a hot-ticket
match.
The United States will move on to the semifinals on Thursday to
face the winner of the quarterfinal between Australia and
Argentina.
Team USA have looked strong at these Games after the French
handed them their first Olympic defeat
https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/
sports/basketball-czech-republic-beat-iran-basketball-begins-tokyo-2021-07-25
since 2004. The Americans have historically been the team to
beat, with 15 gold medals since 1936, and the players and
coaches have made clear they will only be satisfied with one
result this time.
"We got to finish it," said Durant, who plays for the NBA's
Brooklyn Nets. "You know, we're supposed to be here. For us,
it's about getting the gold.
Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic led Slovenia in a 94-70
victory over Germany to move forward to the semifinals. Doncic
has led all players in scoring and is second in rebounds only to
his team mate Mike Tobey.
For a nation of just two million people, Slovenia has fielded a
powerhouse team in their Olympics debut. While Doncic is the
nucleus of their offence, he's surrounded by team mates who
reliably score in the double digits, such as Zoran Dragic who
had 36 against Germany.
"Obviously they have one of the best players in the world, but
he's not alone," Germany head coach Henrik Roedl said about
Doncic and the Slovenian team.
It was Germany's first Olympic quarterfinal since 1992. Italy
takes on France and Australia meets Argentina in the remaining
playoff matches on Tuesday.
(Reporting by Rocky Swift; Editing by Karishma Singh)
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