Deandre Jordan led a smothering defensive effort that led Team USA to an 82-76 victory on Friday, and into Sunday's gold medal game of the Olympics.
The opponent will be the winner of the game between Australia and Serbia, to be played Friday evening. Team USA played both teams earlier in the tournament, defeating Australia by 10 points and Serbia by three.
The eighth and final game will draw the line between success and failure for the U.S. team, which entered the Olympics as a definite favorite to win the gold medal, but has been challenged in its last five games by teams with NBA talent.
"It's a Game Seven," Jordan said of Sunday's game. "Guys know how important this is. We want this really bad for us and our country. I feel like on Sunday we'll have a full 40 minutes."
Jordan, benefiting from the extra playing time that came from DeMarcus Cousins' foul trouble, finished with nine points, 16 rebounds and four blocked shots. Klay Thompson, playing 35 of the 40 minutes, led Team USA with 22 points and hit 4-of-8 3-point shots.
Pacers forward Paul George – who entered the game as Team USA's third-leading scorer with a 12.5 average – had his least effective game of the Olympics with six points on 3-of-8 shooting, six rebounds, an assist and two steals.
George had spelled out Team USA's game plan in an interview before the game.
"We just have to...continue to do what we do best: play defense, get out and run," he said. "The games should come easy for us."
"We feel we're making moves in the right direction. We're figuring it out, going off the game against Argentina (on Wednesday) where we played as a unit on the offensive and defensive end. We have to be able to pick up the pressure, speed teams up, and determine how these games go by dictating every play."
The U.S. followed through with that approach for the most part, preventing point guard Ricky Rubio from penetrating and forcing Spain into 8-of-26 3-point shooting. The U.S. hit just 9-of-26 3-pointers but controlled the boards 53-41.
Five technical fouls were called in an uneven first half, three on the U.S.
Kyle Lowry's 3-pointer closed the first quarter to give Team USA a 26-17 lead, but the momentum didn't continue into the second quarter as Spain opened with a 10-3 run to pull within three points and force a U.S. timeout. George figured into two events in that run, directly and indirectly.
Carmelo Anthony missed two free throws off a technical foul on Spain's coach, prompting television commentator Doug Collins to wonder why George didn't get the opportunity.
"Paul George is shooting 82 percent from the free throw line and they're putting Carmelo out there," Collins said. "I'm surprised by that."
Moments later, George was called for a technical foul for objecting to a foul call after a Spain player fell down while fighting George for post position. George thought he had flopped.
Spain – which has eight players back from its 2012 Olympic team – was still within three points in the final minute of the half, but Thompson hit a 3-pointer from the right corner to open a six-point halftime lead.
Team USA took its first 10-point lead on Anthony's three-point play in the third quarter, and it managed an 11-point lead on Deandre Jordan's one-handed rebound slam dunk of Thompson's missed 3-pointer later in the period. That play forced a Spain timeout, and it came back with five unanswered points to get within six. Jordan closed out the period with a lob dunk from Lowry to open a nine-point lead.
George's rebound basket early in the final quarter opened a 70-57 lead and brought a Spain timeout. Team USA's lead peaked at 15 on Lowry's layup moments later, and Spain never threatened seriously the rest of the game. Spain closed the game with a 7-0 run to shrink the final margin.
Thompson said the U.S. team's defense will determine Sunday's outcome.
"We know what's at stake and everyone on this team is capable of playing high level defense," he said.
"One game left, and then we can get some rest. So you put everything you can into this game and all it's going to take is 40 minutes of trusting each other and playing hard and we should come out on top."
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