Team USA finally looks like itself in win over Argentina

It was midway through the fourth quarter that the Argentinians began gathering at one end of the upper deck. The baby-blue-and-white-clad fans danced, waved flags, chanted and shouted.

If you can’t beat ’em, jeer ’em.

In its best game yet, Team USA led 56-40 at half, 87-61 at the end of the third and 105-78 when the rout mercifully ended.

The timing couldn’t be better for Team USA to be at its best.

“We were just better tonight and more of who we can be,” Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “The effort defensively was outstanding tonight. We really played hard tonight, and that was great to see.”

It was a far cry from the Americans’ past three games against Australia, Serbia and France when they won by a combined 16 points in pool play. But have no fear, Kevin Durant was here, coming up big Wednesday.

Durant scored 27 points, going 7-of-9 from 3-point range, and DeMarcus Cousins scored 15. Even Dallas Mavericks forward Harrison Barnes scored, coming off the bench to play the final 5:50 and hitting a 3-pointer.

All 12 players on Team USA scored.

“I just didn’t care about the outcome of the game,” Durant said. “I was telling myself before I left my room today that I do my best when I don’t care if we win or lose. That may be different for other players, but for me, I’m more free and more aggressive in the games if I don’t care about the outcome. I know if I go out there and be who I am, the outcome will dictate itself. I just tried to play and be free out there and not worry about anything.”

Argentina hit nine of its first 12 shots and led 19-9 early, but Team USA went on a 27-2 run on its way to an easy victory.

“We couldn’t hit a shot at the beginning,” center DeAndre Jordan said. “I thought our defense was OK, but we couldn’t hit a shot early. Once we settled in and we got our rhythm, guys were able to knock down some shots, and ultimately we played defense and won the game.”

The Argentina fans, who dominated the crowd of 11,700 at Carioca Arena 1, never stopped cheering. When the Brazilians joined the Americans in chants of “U-S-A!” the Argentinians only grew louder to drown them out.

“Argentina has some great fans, dedicated fans who stuck throughout the game until the final buzzer,” Jordan said. “When you have fans like that, it’s amazing, man, for both teams. It’s a great environment to play in.”

DeMar DeRozan punctuated the blowout with a 360-degree dunk late.

“We felt that we always had another level we could go to after the last three games,” Durant said. “Guys took it personal. We just played better. We were never satisfied.”

This story was originally published August 17, 2016 at 10:22 PM with the headline "Team USA finally looks like itself in win over Argentina."