Carmelo Anthony scored 10 of his 19 points in the third quarter as the US went on to beat Germany 85-65 yesterday in the quarter-finals of the basketball world championships.
LeBron James added 13 points for the US, which broke away from a one-point halftime lead by using a flurry of steals and blocks to outscore Germany 16-2 over a nearly six-minute span in the third period.
The US (7-0) remained one of the four unbeaten teams and advanced to face European champion Greece (7-0) tomorrow night in the semi-finals. Greece beat France 73-56 earlier yesterday.
But this was unlike the other US victories in Japan.
Instead of looking like the team that came in averaging 109.3 points, the Americans looked like the ones that have come up short in recent years because of a lack of perimeter shooting. They shot 37.6 percent (32-of-85) and were 10-of-40 from 3-point range.
But they kept it from being costly by pressuring Germany's guards and preventing them from getting the ball to superstar Dirk Nowitzki, who finished 3-of-12 with five turnovers.
Nowitzki and Ademola Okulaja each scored 15 points for Germany, the bronze medalist in the 2002 world championships. The Germans (5-2) will face France in a classification-round game tonight and can still finish fifth.
Leading 40-39 at the break, the US came out of the break with a new lineup -- Anthony, James, Joe Johnson, Kirk Hinrich and Dwight Howard -- and forced three turnovers in the first 1:01 of the third quarter.
The Germans were still within a point before Anthony followed a 3-pointer with a steal and dunk. Elton Brand's follow shot made it 51-43 with 6:41 remaining in the period.
Okulaja made a jumper, but Anthony drilled another 3, Dwyane Wade made a free throw, Johnson had a basket and Chris Bosh converted a three-point play on an alley-oop that extended the US lead to 60-45 with 1:53 left in the quarter.
The US had five blocked shots and seven steals in the quarter, taking a 67-52 lead on Chris Paul's jumper as the buzzer sounded.
Sitting back in a zone that featured Nowitzki, Patrick Femerling and 6-8 Okulaja along the back line, Germany forced the US to shoot from the outside. And unlike Sunday's rout of Australia, when the US were 14-of-27 from 3-point range, they were woeful behind the arc yesterday.
The Americans were 5-of-20 in the first half, including one miss when Wade appeared to try to bank one in and it missed the rim entirely -- and that was while he could still see straight.
Wade went to the bench a few minutes later after taking a shot to the eye from Pascal Roller while going for a loose ball. He sat the remainder of the half and returned four-and-a-half minutes into the third quarter -- and promptly threw up an airball on his first shot attempt.
But Germany could never take much of a lead because of foul trouble. Both Nowitzki and Okulaja were on the bench in the final minute with three apiece, and the US took a 40-39 lead when Anthony made a 3-pointer with 47 seconds to go.
That was one of the few highlights in the first half for Anthony, who missed his first eight shots and was 2-of-12. Wade -- who came in combining with Anthony for nearly 40 points per game -- was 1-for-7.
Shane Battier started on Nowitzki, and James and Chris Bosh would get cracks at the Dallas Mavericks All-Star later in the period. All did a good job, forcing Nowitzki to miss his last five shots as the Americans took a 23-21 lead.
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