Argentina did all it could to compete with the almighty U.S. Team. Its passion and courage without Manu Ginobili, who left in the first quarter with a foot injury, deserves to be applauded.

But similar to the way the rest of the Olympic tournament has gone, the U.S. proved to be too strong, too athletic and too skilled.

In its 101-81 triumph on Friday in Beijing to advance to the gold medal game, USA excelled at the free throw line (27-of-36) and also outrebounded Argentina by 11.

Carmelo Anthony led the way with 21 points, while LeBron James recorded 15. Luis Scola, meanwhile for Argentina, tallied a game-high 28 points and 11 rebounds.

The U.S. will challenge Spain, which edged Lithuania earlier in the day, for the gold medal on Sunday at 2:30 a.m. ET. Argentina, meanwhile, will take on Lithuania for the bronze at 12 a.m. ET - from nba.com

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