LAS VEGAS, 4 September 2007 — LeBron James scored a team-record 31 points, and the United States beat Argentina 118-81 on Sunday to win the FIBA Americas basketball championship.
Dwight Howard made all seven of his shots and scored 20 points, and Carmelo Anthony added 16 points for the Americans, who were never challenged while winning 10 games in 12 days and will head to Beijing next summer as one of the gold medal favorites. The Americans averaged 116.7 points in the tournament.
The game was largely meaningless, because both teams had already clinched spots in the Beijing field by winning semifinal games Saturday. But the Americans didn’t let up, remaining perfect in four Olympic qualifiers, including 7-0 against Argentina.
Puerto Rico beat Brazil 111-107 earlier Sunday in the third-place game.
James and Anthony played on teams that finished third in the 2004 Olympics and ’06 world championships. The latter disappointment forced the Americans to play in the qualifying tournament this summer, but it proved to be just a minor roadblock.
“I learned that players can throw their egos and personal accolades out the window,” James said. “We came here for one reason and that was to get the gold medal.”
James finished the tournament shooting 76 percent from the field — his percentage actually dropped from 76.5 after he made 11 of 15 shots. He was 8-of-11 from 3-point range and also led the tournament in that category, hitting 62 percent.
The game was close for 6 minutes before the United States blew it open with an 18-0 run. The Americans scored the final 15 points of the first quarter, then Chauncey Billups opened the second with a 3-pointer for a 38-14 lead. At one point in the second, the Americans scored five consecutive baskets on dunks — three by Howard and two by James, with each having one set up by Kobe Bryant, who had a quiet scoring night but had eight assists. When Howard dunked with 4:58 remaining to push the lead to 51-21, the United States had 16 assists on 18 field goals.
