Kobe Bryant scored 25 points in his best game in Beijing, and the men’s U.S. Olympic team advanced to the semifinals by beating Australia 116-85 on Wednesday night.
The United States will play defending champion Argentina or Greece on Friday night for a spot in Sunday’s gold medal game.
Locked in what looked like another tough game in Australia, the Americans sent the Aussies’ upset hopes down under with a 14-0 burst to open the second half, featuring nine points from Bryant.
LeBron James added 16 points for the Americans, who are guaranteed a chance to play for a medal. They need two more wins for their first gold medal in a major international competition since the 2000 Sydney Games.
As the US expected, with the gold medal getting closer, the games are getting tougher.
Australia stayed with the United States for the first 15 minutes of the game, duplicating the strong performance it had against the Americans in an 87-76 exhibition loss in Shanghai on Aug. 5 — a contest the Americans led by only seven points midway through the fourth quarter.
Information from the Associated Press contributed to this report.