US NBA stars rout Argentina to stay unbeaten

Kevin Durant scored 28 points and the US NBA Dream Team defeated Argentina 126-97 on Monday to remain undefeated and book an Olympic quarter-final date Wednesday against Australia. The result completed the entire medal playoff pairings, which will see the Americans face Argentina or Spain in the semi-finals if they defeat the Aussie Boomers, who knocked Russia from the ranks of the unbeaten earlier on Monday. In the other half of the playoff bracket, reigning European champion Spain will face France in one quarter-final while Russia will meet Lithuania in the other. Semi-finals are on Friday with gold and bronze medal games on Sunday. The Americans led by only 60-59 at half-time but seized command from the start of the third quarter, which began with LeBron James scoring the first seven US points to ignite a 19-7 run by the US NBA stars. Argentina could not recover, with NBA scoring champion Durant scoring 17 points in the fourth quarter, matching Argentina' entire output in the quarter. The US team totalled 42 points in the period and cruised to the finish. James finishd with 18 points and Chris Paul added 17 for the US multi-millionaire lineup. NBA San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobli led Argentina with 16 points.