USA and Serbia to contest gold medal game

Team USA defeated Spain 82-76 in the Olympic semi-finals on Friday, clinching a spot in the gold medal game for the third straight Olympics.

DeAndre Jordan in action for the USA.

After putting away the team that handed it its last Olympic defeat on Wednesday, the United States' men's basketball team has now taken care of the country it has beaten in the last two gold medal contests.

Team USA defeated Spain 82-76 in the Olympic semi-finals on Friday, clinching a spot in the gold medal game for the third straight Olympics. Klay Thompson led the way for the United States, scoring 22 points including 17 in the first half to help see off a tough Spanish team with eight current or former NBA players. 

The US led 45-36 at half-time, aided by Thompson's sizzling shooting as the officials took over the spotlight with their whistles, calling multiple technical fouls on both teams. 

DeAndre Jordan came up big on both ends of the floor for the Americans. The Los Angeles Clippers center scored nine points, grabbed 16 rebounds and blocked four shots. His presence down low was key as DeMarcus Cousins was plagued by foul trouble for most of the game and fouled out in the third quarter.

Spain, who took home silver in 2008 and 2012, benefited from Pau Gasol's 23-point haul.

Serbia sends Australia packing

Serbia earned a spot in the men's basketball gold medal match after demolishing Australia 87-61 in the semi-finals on Friday, setting up a rematch against the United States in two days' time. 

One week after giving USA its biggest scare at the Olympics, Serbia has earned the right to another shot at dethroning the Americans following its dominant performance against the Australians. Milos Teodosic led the way for Serbia with 22 points and three other players reached double digits.

The Serbians held the Australians to just 33 per cent shooting for the game, with the Boomers managing just 14 points in the first half. Andrew Bogut and Matthew Dellavedova combined to score just seven points on 2 of 10 shooting from the field for Australia. 

Serbia will be looking to pull off a huge upset on Sunday, with USA having won back-to-back gold medals and five of the last six at the Games. But the Serbians nearly upset the champions last week, losing by just three points and almost forcing overtime.