KD's third-quarter assault carries U.S.

"You kind of want to send a message a little bit," Kobe Bryant said. "This was the second game in a row that a team has played us close. We didn't want to give them confidence."

The Americans (5-0) will play Australia (3-2) in a quarterfinal game Wednesday.

LeBron James scored 18 points, getting the Americans' first seven of the third quarter before Durant took over.

The Sixers' Andre Iguodala played 20 minutes and scored 13 points. After assisting on Durant's three with 3 seconds left in the first quarter, giving the U.S. a 34-32 lead, Iguodala scored six points in the second. Two of those points came on a thunderous dunk, which Iguodala threw down with such force that it hit his chest and ricocheted back up through the basket so quickly that it was unclear if it went in at all. The PA announcer and scoreboard operator counted it, but Argentina simply pushed the ball up the other way as if the shot had missed. Replays showed it clearly went all the way down, making it 45-39.

Argentina (3-2) shot 56 percent in the first half and the U.S. led just 60-59. Minutes later, it was effectively over. Durant's three after James' surge gave the U.S. 10 points in 2 minutes, 10 seconds of the second half, and he made back-to-back threes midway through the period to make it 85-68.

The Americans have 2 days to work on it before facing the Australians (3-2), who pulled a surprise earlier Monday, handing Group B champion Russia its first loss, 82-80, on Patty Mills' three-pointer as time expired.