The Olympics: Team USA vs. Australia (Men's Basketball)

The U.S. men's basketball team is headed to the Olympic semifinals after a 95-81 victory over Spain Tuesday. When we last saw Kevin Durant he was one wrong shoe size away from advancing in the NBA playoffs. Now he's leading Team USA in Tokyo, trying to become only the second American male player to win three gold medals in his career. Durant's shoes are still big, and soon his Olympic medal case may also be big. Maybe he can keep the shoes with the medals? Probably not. Onward.  

Durant scored 29 points, including 13 in the third quarter as Team USA overcome a rough first half that saw them hit on only 4 of 17 shots from beyond the arc. Things hearted up in the second, when the team improved to 9 for 15 from deep. Draymond Green had a very Draymond Green performance, finishing with 9 points, 5 assists and 3 steals in the win, while Jayson Tatum had 13 points coming off the bench. 

On the Spanish side, 10 year veteran Ricky Rubio, newly signed with Cleveland back in the states, finished with 38 points, hitting 4 of 7 from 3-point range, breaking the record for most points against a U.S. team in the Olympics, or any world event. Unfortunately for Poor Rubio, this was his fourth straight loss to Team USA in the Olympics, the first being in 2008 gold-medal game in Beijing. A gold-medal game that took place so long ago, George W. Bush was president, and Kevin Durant's shoe was a full two sizes smaller. 

Team USA will face Australia, which beat Argentina 97-59 to advance, in the semifinal game. Australia has plenty of familiar NBA names, including former San Antonio Spur and now free-agent Patty Mills, 76ers wing Matisse Thybulle and guard Matthew Dellavedova, who won a title with Cleveland in 2015 and now plays for Melbourne United in the NBL. Mills scored 18 and Thybulle had 12 in Australia's win. 

Team USA enters the semifinal as 11-point favorites. They appear destined for the gold-medal game, where they could very likely face a tough Slovina team lead by yet another familiar NBA name, Luca Doncic. Doncic finished with 20 points, eight assists and 11 rebounds in Sloevina's 94-70 quarterfinal win over Germany. 

My Prediction: Team USA 97-Australia 90. KD and his shoes are headed to the gold-medal game with a chance to make history.  

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