BEIJING — The Olympic title is vacant once again. The climb back to the top of world basketball is almost over for the U.S. men’s team.
Friday’s 101-81 U.S. victory over defending gold medalist Argentina was a last bit of sweet revenge for the U.S. men, who will face Spain in Sunday’s gold-medal game.
“We still have one more test to go, but I think our team is extremely confident,” point guard Chris Paul said.
It’s been a long march: eight years since their last gold medal in an international event; six years since their embarrassing loss at the world championships in Indianapolis — of all places; four years since the agony of Athens.
Now it’s down to one game, just 40 more minutes, against a Spanish team that holds the world championship title but was clobbered by the Americans by 37 points in pool play. Win again, and the U.S. will have its first gold in a major international event since the 2000 Olympics.
“We had a great game against them in pool play, but pool play does not win a gold medal,” U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “It just gets you into the medal round. We expect the same type of heart of a champion that we played against tonight in Argentina.”
The United States scored 21 of the first 25 points, and got a big break when Argentina star Manu Ginobili reinjured his left ankle. They pulled away in the second half of their toughest test yet.
Luis Scola scored 28 points for Argentina, which didn’t relinquish its title without a fight. Even without Ginobili for the final 3½ quarters, the Argentines cut a 21-point lead into single digits and frustrated the Americans with their physical play. But they didn’t have enough depth or firepower without their best player.
“They were better than us, there’s nothing more to say,” Scola said. “They’ve been playing better than us the whole tournament. We have to say congratulations to them.”
Lithuania and Argentina will meet Sunday for the bronze. Spain beat Lithuania 91-86 in the first semifinal.
“It’s a great feeling right now,” Anthony said. “I’m going to try to sleep the rest of these couple of hours that we have and get ready for that game on Sunday. I can’t wait.”
When the Americans fell from the top of world basketball, it was Argentina as much as anyone who took their place — and hastened their fall. The Argentines, with Ginobili’s flair and Scola’s force, won gold in 2004 and silver in the 2002 world championships, beating the United States in both tournaments. The victory in Indianapolis was the first time a U.S. team lost with NBA players.
The U.S. lead was already 10 points on Friday when Ginobili, who came in leading the tournament with 20.3 points per game, went down in a play away from the ball. He limped to the sideline and took off his left sneaker after reinjuring the same ankle that slowed him so badly in the NBA Western Conference finals.
He soon retreated to the back, a crushing blow for a team that already had to deal with an injury that kept Andres Nocioni from being at full speed.
“It’s hard,” Scola said of Ginobili’s injury. “You want to play, you want to win, all of a sudden you find out all of the hard work you did is going into the trash.”
The Americans extended the lead to 21-4 and were up by 21 early in the second quarter. But they went ice cold against Argentina’s zone, committed some silly fouls that gave away free points at the line, and saw the lead trimmed all the way down to 46-40 on a basket by Scola in the final minute of the half.
James wasn’t with his teammates when the starting lineups were announced, having to sprint out from the back after his name was called. Then he was curiously absent in the first half, managing only two points.
He scored five quick ones in the third quarter, teaming with Dwight Howard to help the Americans break it open again. Anthony got mixed up in some chippy play with Scola and Nocioni, but kept his poise and scored eight points in the period.
“They wanted to play physical, we played physical with them and I think we beat them at their own game tonight,” Anthony said.
James hit two quick 3-pointers in the fourth to extend the lead to 84-66, and it wasn’t in doubt again.

SUNDAY

WHO: U.S. vs. Spain
WHAT: Men’s basketball, gold-medal game
TIME: 2:30 a.m.
TV/RADIO: Channel 3; WKNR 850-AM

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