Durant Leads Team USA Past Argentina

Kevin Durant scored 17 of his game-high 28 points in the third quarter Monday to help Team USA pull away from a talented Argentina team to win 126-97.

Team USA only led by one at halftime, but overwhelmed Argentina in the third quarter, outscoring them 42-17.

As has been the custom during these Olympics, Team USA launched a tremendous amount of three-point shots against the Argentines. Fortunately, making a high percentage has also been pretty customary for the Americans. Durant hit an astounding 8-10 from behind the arc while Chris Paul shot 4-5 from downtown. Team USA as a whole shot 20-39 from three.

Argentina was led by San Antonio Spurs' star Manu Ginobili, who scored 16 points despite being held to just seven shot attempts. Argentina sports a starting lineup with four NBA players, including Ginobili. Phoenix Suns' forward Luis Scola scored 11, while Milwaukee Bucks' guard Carlos Delfino added 13 and former Bulls and Sixers' forward Andres Nocioni chipped in 12.

While Durant led the way, Team USA got solid scoring contributions from a number of players. Andre Iguodala and Kevin Love each had 13 points and nine rebounds, Paul added 17, Lebron James scored 18 and Kobe Bryant dropped 11.

Durant's Thunder teammate Russell Westbrook struggled, shooting just 1-8 from the field, but added four points and four assists for the Americans. Although Westbrook struggled, James Harden played an efficient nine minutes. Harden scored seven points on 3-5 shooting.

The victory clinched Group A for the Americans, and sends Team USA into the medal round as the only team without a loss.