U.S. holds 60-59 halftime lead over Argentina in men’s basketball

LONDON -- Uh, hello?

The U.S. men’s basketball team continued to play with substantially less fire than the Olympic flame, muddling through a preliminary game against Argentina and emerging with a 60-59 halftime lead Monday at Olympic Park basketball arena.

The U.S. hasn’t looked sharp for three halves of basketball, including a 99-94 victory over Lithuania two days ago.

Manu Ginobili has 16 points for Argentina, which had no problems scoring at all, shooting 63% and making all 14 of its free-throw attempts in the half.

Chris Paul has 14 points for the U.S, which took a 34-32 lead into the second quarter only after Kevin Durant hit a three-pointer with a second left in the first.

It gave Durant 11 points in the quarter and almost made fans forget that Argentina made eight of 13 shots (62%) in the first quarter.

Regardless of the outcome, U.S. clinches first place in its pool and plays Australia in a quarterfinal Wednesday.

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