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Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games
Sport

Tokyo Olympics: Kevin Durant on fire as USA downs Spain to advance to basketball semi-finals

  • The Brooklyn Nets star leads squad once again with 29 points as Americans claw back from 11 points down during the second quarter
  • The USA will now play either Argentina or Australia in the semi-finals as a charging Slovenia led by Luka Donic makes its way forward as well

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Kevin Durant shoots over Spain’s Victor Claver as the USA advances to the semi-finals at the Olympic Games. Photo: AP
Patrick BlennerhassettandCarlos Escueta
A late-charge, led by none other than Brooklyn Nets superstar Kevin Durant and his 29 points, has vaulted the USA men’s basketball team into the semi-finals at Tokyo 2020 with a 95-81 victory over Spain.
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The USA went down 21-19 in the first quarter as Spain’s Ricky Rubio, who plays for the Minnesota Timberwolves, came out hot, ending with 13 points in the first half (and 38 in total). The USA had a lot of issues with Spain’s rebounding prowess as the Spaniards collected 29 boards to 18 in the first half.

After trailing by 11 during the second stanza, the USA was able to crawl back and tie the game 43-43 at half-time.

A big part of the American’s comeback was seven steals, most of them in the second quarter, and a barrage of Spanish turnovers.

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The Americans will now face either Argentina or Australia on Thursday at 12:15pm (HKT), with those two southern hemisphere squads squaring off at 8pm. The other quarter-final game is between Italy and France (4:20pm).

Slovenia punched its ticket to the semi-finals after a commanding 94-70 win over Germany in its quarter-final, and is now one win away from the gold-medal game.

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