U.S. full of hot shots in 109-83 win over Argentina

LONDON — Kobe Bryant sank three three-pointers and had a reverse dunk in the first 4 minutes 12 seconds. Kevin Durant made four three-pointers in the third quarter. Carmelo Anthony added three three-pointers in a 42-second stretch of the fourth.

And LeBron James flirted with his second straight triple double in just 28:34, finishing with 18 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.

Any wonder why the U.S. men’s basketball team advanced to its second straight gold-medal game with a 109-83 pasting Friday of Argentina? Even Bryant, who isn’t easily impressed, shook his head and laughed at the offensive firepower flowing from so many sources.

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“You got three scorers on this team who get blistering hot if we make two shots in a row. I’ve never seen anything like it,” Bryant said. “Me, KD and Melo make two threes in a row and all of a sudden it’s like the floodgates open and a 10-point lead turns into 20 very, very quickly.”

The U.S. will face Spain on Sunday in a rematch of the Beijing Olympics gold-medal game won by Bryant and Co. And the U.S. is, shall we say, supremely confident, even if reserve guard Russell Westbrook’s mildly sprained ankle keeps him sidelined.

“Everyone has said this is the game they wanted to see,” James said. “We look forward to it.”

On a night Dwight Howard’s trade to the Lakers threatened to steal the show, Team USA’s shooting display forced the focus back to on-the-court action — at least for a while. Durant’s five three-pointers led the barrage of 18 overall and Coach Mike Krzyzewski praised the 13 assist-to-zero-turnover performance by point guards Chris Paul and Deron Williams.

“When you have guys who can penetrate and pass the way we do, all you have to do is hit open shots,” Durant said.

In the third straight Olympic semifinal between these two countries, there were no extracurricular shenanigans that marred Monday’s pool-play meeting. That’s when Facundo Campazzo punched Anthony in the groin.

This time, there was merely mutual respect. This could be the end of Argentina’s “Golden Generation” core of Manu Ginobili, Luis Scola, Carlos Delfino and Andres Nocioni, who upset the U.S. en route to gold at the 2004 Athens Games and will face Russia on Sunday for bronze.

After Bryant’s blistering start, in which he also dived for a loose ball and pushed the U.S. ahead, 15-4, Argentina hung around behind the three-point shooting of Delfino and Ginobili. Ginobili’s three-pointer to open the second half pulled Argentina within four.

That’s when Durant heated up from beyond the arc and James added an exclamation point with a vicious slam and three-point play over Delfino.

“I try to make plays to try to inspire our team offensively and defensively,” James said. “I hope that was the play that started the rally.”

Asked about the play, Krzyzewski played the straight man.

“He dunks emphatically,” Krzyzewski said. “I don’t think that was a once-in-a-lifetime thing.”

In fact, Krzyzewski kept playing the deadpan role postgame, responding to one question about how much coaching this team needs by joking that he just rolls the balls out at practice after getting “drunk as a skunk” the previous night.

Krzyzewski even facetiously invited reporters to go out with him. In reality, the coach will be breaking down game film of Spain, trying to place a period on his successful run as the national coach with a second gold medal.

Anything short of that would be a colossal failure.

“We have a chance to do something special,” Anthony said. “We don’t take that chance for granted, and we expect to have success.”

In the other semifinal game, Spain trailed Russia by 11 at halftime, but came back in the second half to win, 67-59. Pau Gasol scored 16 points and Jose Calderon scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half to led the comeback.

kcjohnson@tribune.com

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