Olympics: Redeem Team a step closer

BEIJING — For the United States men's basketball foursome of Carlos Boozer, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade, Friday night's 101-81 semifinal victory over defending Olympics champion Argentina helped heal some 4-year-old wounds.

The U.S. quartet are holdovers from the American squad that lost to Argentina in the semis at the 2004 Athens Games en route to a 5-3 record and a bronze medal.

"Before the game, me, D-Wade, 'Bron and 'Melo got together, and we're all saying we've been waiting for this for four years," said Boozer. "We got our revenge on Argentina, but the ultimate goal isn't Argentina, our ultimate goal is the gold medal."

And the gold goal can be realized Sunday when the undefeated United States squad plays Spain for a second time in the Beijing Olympics tournament, since both won Friday night's semifinals at the Olympic Basketball Gymnasium.

Anthony's 21 points — on 4-for-13 shooting from the floor but a perfect 13-of-13 from the line — and James' 15 points paced seven Americans in double figures.

Deron Williams added six on a pair of 3-pointers, while Boozer missed his only attempt in the game's final minutes.

The U.S. looked set to spank Argentina from the start, going on an 18-0 run in the first quarter for a 21-4 lead.

And when Argentina star guard Manu Ginobili suffered a left ankle injury late in the quarter and left the game for good, onlookers sensed the game might turn ugly.

It did, as in physical-and-rough ugly, not lopsided-rout ugly, as Argentina battled back from a 19-point lead going into the second quarter to cut the deficit to nine at intermission.

"They fought back, they didn't give up," said Boozer. "They're not that kind of team."

Williams had another source for Argentina's comeback.

"We felt like we relaxed a little bit when we saw Ginobili go out — we stopped playing defense a little bit and softened up," he said. "We came out in the second half and did a better job of that."

Still, Argentina kept it between 13 and 19 points until the game's final minutes. Luis Scola led Argentina with 28 points on 13-of-21 shooting, while Carlos Delfino added 17.