ATHENS, Aug 23 (AFP) - Reigning champion United States routed Angola 89-53 here Sunday in their final Olympic preliminary round men`s basketball game, but the Americans must wait to learn their opponent in Thursday`s quarter-finals.
Tim Duncan led the US collection of National Basketball Association players with 15 points while LeBron James and Carlos Boozer added 11 points each for the select squad of young NBA talent.
Despite losing to Group B winner Lithuania and Puerto Rico in round robin games, a US team that finished 3-2 could be the group`s second seed thanks to the Games using a point-differential tie-breaker rather than head-to-head.
If the Puerto Ricans defeat Greece in a later game, the US team will finish third and play the winner of a later Group A game between Italy and Argentina. The Italians beat the Americans 95-78 in a pre-Olympic exhibition game.
But if the Greeks down Puerto Rico, both would match the US team at 3-2 and seedings would be decided by point difference.
Thanks to the rout of the African champions, the United States finished plus-29. Greece would have to beat Puerto Rico by four points to finish second and drop the US NBA squad to third.
Puerto Rico will be seeded second with a victory or fourth with a loss.
US co-captans Duncan and Allen Iverson staked the US team to an early lead before US coach Larry Brown went to his bench and the NBA talent broke open the game with a 24-4 run.
LeBron James made several spectacular dunks that impressed a capacity crowd, joining Shawn Marion and Carlos Boozer in sparking the spurt that sealed Angola`s fate.
Brown spread playing time among his entire roster, keeping as much energy as possible for his players in reserve for the grind of a three-day playoff run that is closer to an NBA endurance test than what most rivals have faced.