Stephon Marbury set a US Olympic team record with 31 points as the Americans grabbed 12 3-pointers and eliminated previously undefeated Spain from medal contention with a 102-94 quarterfinal victory.
They'll play Argentina in the semifinals after the South Americans defeated Greece 69-64 to deny the host nation a chance at its best Olympic finish ever and quieting a partisan crowd.
PHOTO: EPA
Lithuania advanced to the final four for the fourth consecutive Olympics, remaining unbeaten with a 95-75 victory over China. They'll face Italy, who beat Puerto Rico 83-70.
Marbury broke the US record of 30 points shared by Charles Barkley (1992 vs. Brazil) and Adrian Dantley (1976 vs. Yugoslavia).
US coach Larry Brown and Spain coach Mario Pesquera had a brief altercation as the teams left the court, the two pointing angrily at each other before being separated by their assistants.
Allen Iverson added 16 points, Carlos Boozer had 12 and Lamar Odom 11 for the Americans, who advanced to the semifinals against the winner of the Argentina-Greece game.
Pau Gasol led Spain with 29 points, but was held to just four in the fourth quarter by a tenacious American defensive effort.
Reserve guard Arvydas Macijauskas had 32 points for Lithuania, which used its defense and rebounding to get its running game going and stop China's surprise run and star center Yao Ming.
Yao had 29 points and 11 rebounds for China, which reached the quarterfinals with a 67-66 victory over two-time defending world champion Serbia-Montenegro.
Argentina will make its first Olympic semifinal appearance since 1952 -- some 50 years before they made basketball history at the world championships in Indianapolis by becoming the first team ever to defeat US squad comprised of NBA players.
Argentina held Greece without a field goal for 5 minutes until Nikolaos Chatzivrettas made a 3-pointer with 35.6 seconds remaining to cut Greece's deficit to 65-64.
Massimo Bulleri scored 20 points to lead Italy to an 83-70 victory over Puerto Rico to its first Olympic basketball semifinal since 1980. Gianluca Basile added 18 points for Italy, including the 3-pointer that capped a 13-5 run to open the second half and gave his team a 54-42 lead.
Elias Ayuso had 24 points and backcourt mate Carlos Arroyo, who plays for the Utah Jazz, added 23 for Puerto Rico, which got no closer than six points after the opening run.
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