Now things get serious as the Americans enter the knockout round with a quarterfinal game against Australia on Wednesday.
Dwight Howard hit nine of 10 shots for his 22 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and led five Americans in double figures in the 106-57 win over Germany on Monday that was over almost from the time it started.
“Now that we’re through with the first round, it doesn’t really mean anything,” said LeBron James, who kicked in 18 points. “Now it’s ‘one loss and you’re out,’ so the stakes only get higher. These next three games are why we’re here. There’s only one goal for us and that’s the gold medal.”
Team USA won its five first-round games by an average margin of 32.5 points.
Australia will gain confidence from a whopping 31-point win over Group A’s top team, Lithuania, and from having given the U.S. a battle in Shanghai in the last exhibition game before the Olympics.
“It will be tough,” said Aussie center Andrew Bogut of the matchup. “I have not seen them play with such a chip on their shoulders since the Dream Team of ’92, especially with Kobe (Bryant) running the show.
“They have a different mentality. They are trying to kill teams and they are going to try to knock us out with the first punch. We have to stay calm. We feel that if we play the way we can play, play free, we will do all right.
“What do we have to do to beat them? Shoot 100 percent.”
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