London 2012 Olympics: Bryant helps US into last four as rematch of 2008 final looms

The US, getting a lift from NBA superstars Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, eliminated a gritty Australia team 119-86 while Spain prevailed 66-59 in a testy encounter with France.

The Americans now meet Argentina in tonight’s semi-finals while Spain take on Russia.

Argentina ousted arch-rivals Brazil 82-77 and Russia eased past Lithuania 83-74.

The high-powered US team spluttered against the fearless Australians before Bryant, who had been relatively quiet during these Games, came to life by putting on a fourth-quarter show.

He drilled four three-pointers in succession to chants of ‘Kobe, Kobe’ from the North Greenwich Arena crowd as the Americans raced away from their tiring opponents.

“Kobe’s usually been the best player every night we play [in the NBA] so it’s great to see him go off like that,” said point guard Chris Paul after Los Angeles Lakers leader Bryant collected 20 points. “He could do that every night but our team is so deep he doesn’t need to.”

Bryant certainly had the crowd on their feet singing his name with his quick-fire series of four three-point shots in just over a minute that took an already-stretched game beyond the reach of a battling Australian side.

“He got hot, he woke up. He definitely got it going and we all knew it was just a matter of time for him,” said US team mate Andre Iguodala.

Last week Bryant spoke about enjoying the Olympic experience, but a series of staid performances for an unbeaten and relatively untroubled US team had ramped up the pressure on the five-time NBA champion of the Los Angeles Lakers to show his best form on the court.

“I was just searching for something to get me going, for something to activate ‘the black mamba’ as coach calls it,” Bryant told reporters.

“I just found myself in a pretty good rhythm, found myself with some daylight to shoot the ball and they were going in for me.”

US team coach Mike Krzyzewski was clearer about what brought out the best in Bryant, who along with James is one of his top players: “Australia playing great.”

“When you’re playing a team who’s fought back, and with the way they started the second half... we needed guys to step forward,” Krzyzewski said.

Meanwhile, Spain broke open a fierce defensive battle in the final minute to win a bad-tempered contest that threatened to turn into a brawl.

Back-to-back fouls for unsportsmanlike behaviour were handed out to France’s Ronny Turiaf and Nicolas Batum for hard hits while players from both teams had to be restrained by officials.

“Nobody likes to lose in the quarter-final of the Olympics,” said Spain’s Marc Gasol who led the winners with 14 points. “Everybody wants to fight for those medals. Sometimes it gets a little out of hand because emotions get involved. Nobody got hurt, that’s the most important thing.”

Argentina overcame a sluggish start and a late Brazilian rally to return to the semi-finals.

It is the third successive appearance in the last four for the South Americans who won gold in 2004 and bronze in 2008. The Argentines jumped up and down with joy before singing along with their fans in celebration.

“We hung in there in the end and got an awesome win,” said the experienced Manu Ginobili. “It’s very, very hard to make an Olympics semi-final and against Brazil for us it’s maybe even more special.”

Russia made the most of their strength under the basket to beat Lithuania as they kept up their challenge for a first basketball medal in 12 years. Andrei Kirilenko played his usual brilliant all-round game for Russia while burly centre Timofey Mozgov operated with great effect.

Kirilenko led Russia with 19 points and had a game-high 13 rebounds. Mozgov added 17 points.

“It was a physical game, Lithuania are a physical team. They were strong. The whole game was tough,” said the 7ft 1in Mozgov before adding that Kirilenko’s points haul was routine.

“He played very well,” said Mozgov. “I can’t remember a game when he played badly.”