For the first time since 1988, the Olympic men's basketball gold medal will not go to the US.
Argentina won the semifinal 89-80 Friday, meaning bronze is the best the Americans can do, and the reason was simple: In a team game -- an Olympic sport not about individuals or superstars -- they got beat by a better team.
Manu Ginobili scored 29 points to lead his nation to another historical victory over the country that used to dominate the sport.
Argentina, with almost the exact roster that made history in 2002 by becoming the first team to defeat an American squad of NBA players, will compete for it against Italy, which upset Lithuania 100-91 in the other semifinal on Gianluca Basile's 31 points.
The US plays Lithuania for bronze ahead of the gold medal match Saturday.
The Argentines were the better passers, shooters and defenders, and they didn't need any gimmick defenses to prove it.
They confronted the Americans with a mixture of man-to-man and zone defenses and confounded them with an assortment of back picks that turned the start of the second half into a layup drill.
"We fought as hard as we could. We couldn't get it done for whatever reason. They were a better team than us," Allen Iverson said.
Argentina's players celebrated wildly when the game finished with the crowd yelling "Ole!" and US coach Larry Brown walked over and gave a handshake and hug to his Argentine counterpart, Ruben Magnano, who played for Argentina against the 1992 Dream Team in Barcelona.
"Our rival today was extremely tough, but in the few hours that passed between yesterday's game and today's, we realized that nothing was impossible," Magnano said. "We had to go out there and attack them on an equal footing, go for them. That's what we did, and that's why we won."
Ginobili, who also plays for the San Antonio Spurs, said the Americans did not bring their best team.
"In 1992, the USA had the best players ever. Here they are great players, too, but they are young and they never played internationally, so with different rules it's a whole different thing," Ginobili said. "The rest of the world is getting better and the States isn't bringing their best players.
"For us to get an Olympic gold would be amazing, and tomorrow our soccer team and us will be playing for gold," Ginobili said. "That could be the happiest time ever for us."
Italy used some incredible 3-point shooting to advance to the gold medal game for just the second time ever.
The only other time Italy (5-2) played for gold was in 1980 when it lost to the Soviet Union.
Lithuania (6-1) has won the last three bronze medals and now it must beat the US for a second time to make it four in a row.
Italy finished 18-for-28 from 3-point range (64 percent) in the game of runs, the last of which belonged to Italy.
Lithuania trailed by 10 points entering the fourth quarter but went on a 15-0 run to take a 78-73 lead with 6:34 to play.
Italy answered with a 12-0 run, the last six points of which came on -- what else? -- 3-pointers by Giacomo Galanda and Basile, who was 7-for-11 on 3s. Galanda's 3 came with 2:21 to play and it was Italy's first field goal of the fourth quarter. Lithuania couldn't come up with a final run and Italy guaranteed itself at least a silver medal.
Arvydas Macijauskas, who had 32 points in the quarterfinal win over China, had 26 for Lithuania, all but two in the first half when each team held a double-figure lead. Saulius Stombergas added 12 points for Lithuania, all in a 2:42 span to open the fourth quarter.
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