BARCELONA, Spain (AP) – James Harden and the U.S. sprinted into the championship game of the Basketball World Cup, riding a huge third quarter to a 96-68 victory over Lithuania on Thursday night.
Harden scored all of his 16 points in the lopsided third quarter of a near carbon copy of the Americans’ quarterfinal victory over Slovenia, when he awoke from a scoreless first half to help turn a close game into a blowout in a split second.
The Americans will travel to Madrid to face France or Serbia on Sunday as they try to repeat as world champions for the first time.
They will arrive as even heavier favorites following Spain’s stunning loss to France in the quarterfinals on Wednesday. With their veteran experience, near misses against the U.S. in the last two Olympic gold-medal games and home-court advantage, the second-ranked Spanish were considered the team with the best chance – perhaps the only one – to beat the Americans.
Whichever team is ends up being will have to show it can hang with the Americans for more than a half, which nobody in Barcelona did.