Team USA Bests Spain to Advance to Olympic Semifinals

Team USA withstood an epic performance from Ricky Rubio to beat Spain and advance to the Olympic Semifinals.

Ricky Rubio played the game of his life from start to finish against the United States. Unfortunately for he and the Spanish, though, Team USA's cold first-half shooting yielded enough regression to the mean after intermission to render his epic performance moot.

The United States beat Spain in the Olympic quarterfinals on Monday, pulling away for a 95-81 victory despite 38 points from the Rubio—not just a Spanish Olympic record, but the most points ever scored versus the Americans at the Games.

Rubio, a Team USA foe dating all the way back to the 2008 gold medal game, shot 13-of-20 from the field, 4-of-7 from three-point range and 8-of-8 at the free throw line. The U.S. consistently failed to keep him out of the paint, their switching defense often victimized by Spain's decisive ball and player movement.

Though at his best as a distributor and defender in the NBA, Rubio—traded from the Minnesota Timberwolves to the Cleveland Cavaliers on draft night—has still proven himself capable of a random scoring outburst during his lengthy career. All-NBA defender Jrue Holiday, for instance, wasn't surprised by his performance.

“I didn't expect anything less," he said of Rubio, per USA Basketball. "Ever since he was, what, like 12, he’s been doing this. So for him to come out here and just display the type of talent that he has is really cool to be a part of and to see.”

Fortunately for the Americans, Rubio wasn't the only Olympic veteran cooking on Monday night. 

Kevin Durant, Team USA's newly-minted all-time leading scorer, helped his squad break a halftime tie early in the third quarter with three triples, setting the stage for an onslaught of American jumpers. Thirteen of his team-high 29 points came in the third, and the United States shot a scorching 9-of-15 from beyond the arc after intermission. 

"We got wide open looks in the first half, we just didn’t knock them down,' Durant said. "We started rushing once we got down seven or eight. So, we calmed down once we tied the game up and were able to knock some shots down and stick to our fundamentals and keep working."

Damian Lillard shook off a slow start offensively to play a key role in Team USA's dominant second half. Though he was exploited at times defensively by Spain's size and overall activity, Lillard's five quick points to start the fourth quarter went a long way toward staving off a Spanish comeback attempt.

He finished with 11 points, four rebounds and four assists, playing just 22 minutes as Gregg Popovich often deployed bigger lineups that could string together stops.

Team USA will face Australia in the semifinals to gain the opportunity to win a fourth straight gold medal.

"We’re in a good spot right now," Draymond Green said. "Guys are starting to understand their roles and just get more comfortable within the team."

The Americans and Australians tip off on NBCOlymics.com at 9:15 p.m. (PST) on Wednesday night.

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