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Don't doubt this U.S. men's basketball team -- and sure don't challenge them, either. Especially if it's going to make Kobe Bryant flash his NBA MVP form. Bryant scored 25 points in his best game in Beijing, and the men's U.S. Olympic team advanced to the semifinals by beating Australia 116-85 on Wednesday night.

Los Angeles Lakers center Pau Gasol scored 20 points to lead world champion Spain to a 72-59 win against Croatia Wednesday in men's basketball. Felipe Reyes added 13 points for Spain, while Toronto Raptors point guard Jose Calderon added 10. Gasol also had a game-high 10 rebounds. Marko Banic had 15 points to lead Croatia.

Clay Bennett's ownership group has reached a final settlement with the city of Seattle, allowing the former SuperSonics franchise to move to Oklahoma City. Attorneys filed a document Tuesday in Seattle federal court noting that the parties had agreed to pay their own court costs after reaching the settlement.

By the time the U.S. Olympic basketball team was done flexing its offensive muscle against Spain, plenty of observers were convinced they had just watched the gold-medal favorites. Three-pointers rained down in bunches. Speedy guards left defenders in the dust on their way to easy buckets. That's nothing new at the Beijing Games.

NBA commissioner David Stern is intrigued by the question buzzing around the Beijing Games: Who would win a match-up between the 1992 Dream Team and the 2008 Redeem Team? "I'd actually pay to buy a ticket for that one," Stern said in an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday. And though he wouldn't pick a winner, he seemed to favor the frontcourt of the 1992 team.

The Clippers re-signed unrestricted free-agent center Paul Davis on Monday, giving Los Angeles three players named Davis on their 15-man roster. He joins Baron Davis and Ricky Davis, another pair of free-agent additions. Paul Davis averaged 2.5. points, 2.1 rebounds and 0.8 assists in 22 games with the Clippers before sustaining a season-ending injury to his right knee last Dec.

Andre Iguodala, who helped the Philadelphia 76ers reach the playoffs for the first time in three years, was rewarded Monday with the official announcement of a six-year contract worth a reported $80 million. "We felt like he had a very good track record to warrant a contract like that," Sixers president Ed Stefanski said.

Fresh off its latest romp, the U.S. Olympic basketball team got a postgame visit from swimming sensation Michael Phelps. Like the Americans need another dominant athlete in their locker room? The U.S. put away Dirk Nowitzki and Germany in a hurry Monday, completing an undefeated march through pool play with a 106-57 victory.

BEIJING -- Kobe Bryant picked up two fouls in the first five minutes against Spain. Another starter, Carmelo Anthony, had three fouls midway through the second quarter. No problem. U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski went to his bench and overwhelmed the defending world champions. What was billed as a possible preview of the gold medal game turned into a showcase of American depth -- and that has proved the...

Four down, four to go. The U.S. men's Olympic team is halfway back to the top of the basketball world. And not even the world champions -- on paper anyway -- could give the Americans a game. Unleashing a lethal 3-point barrage for the first time in Beijing, the Americans turned the marquee matchup of the preliminary round into another romp, beating Spain 119-82 Saturday night to clinch the top seed...

Michael Finley is poised to re-sign with the San Antonio Spurs. According to a report posted on ESPN.com Friday that cited NBA front-office sources, the 35-year-old guard-forward has reached terms on a deal with the Spurs. Terms were not available, the report said. With Manu Ginobili providing a spark for the Spurs off the bench, Finley started 61 games last season.

New Orleans Hornets guard Jannero Pargo is the latest player to turn his back on the NBA for Europe. Pargo signed a one-year deal with Dynamo Moscow of the Russian League, agent Mark Bartelstein told The Associated Press in a phone interview Friday. The one-year deal is worth nearly $4 million and is about twice what Pargo made for the Hornets last season, Bartelstein said.

Former Seattle SuperSonics owner Howard Schultz's court bid to regain control of the team will have to wait until after next season. Federal Judge Marsha Pechman has set a June 15 trial date for Schultz's lawsuit, which seeks to overturn his 2006 sale of the team to Clay Bennett. Pechman also heard the city of Seattle's lawsuit against Bennett, which resulted in a settlement allowing the team to...

BEIJING -- When USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo assembled the men's Olympic team, he asked every player for a three-year commitment. Three games into the Olympic tournament, that commitment is paying dividends on defense. The players have become a cohesive defensive unit, suffocating China, Angola and Greece in their first three games.

Ron Artest officially joined the Houston Rockets on Thursday. The Rockets announced the five-player trade with Sacramento that also brought forward Patrick Ewing Jr. and guard Sean Singletary in exchange for guard Bobby Jackson, rookie forward Donte Greene and Houston's first-round pick next year. "This is definitely the high point of my career," Artest said in a conference call.

The Los Angeles Lakers signed free-agent forward Josh Powell on Thursday. Terms of the contract weren't released. The 6-foot-9 Powell, a three-year NBA veteran, spent last season with the Los Angeles Clippers, averaging 5.5 points and 5.2 rebounds in 64 games. Powell has career averages of 4.2 points and 3.6 rebounds in 138 games with Dallas, Indiana, Golden State and the Clippers.

Mo Williams hasn't been a Cavalier for long, but he already knows his role: Take some pressure off LeBron James and help Cleveland win a championship. Just after James led the U.S. to a spot in the medal round at the Olympics in Beijing, Williams told reporters on a teleconference Thursday that he can help the Cavaliers superstar.

The wife of Phoenix Suns center Shaquille O'Neal said Thursday that her marriage to the NBA star is on the mend. During an interview about the launch of her new video-sharing Web site, Shaunie O'Neal told The Associated Press that the couple plans to stop divorce proceedings soon. "Neither one of us could probably answer why we were getting one in the first place," Shaunie O'Neal said.

It's official now. This is NOT Japan and the 2006 World Championships, not to mention Athens and the 2004 Olympics. This is Beijing and the 2008 Olympics, and the U.S. is back in men's basketball. These Americans, who looked so lost two years ago in Japan, appear to have found their Olympic way in China.

Houston Rockets center Yao Ming scored 30 points to lead China to an 85-68 win against Angola Thursday, giving the Olympic hosts their first victory of the Summer Games in men's basketball. Using an overwhelming height advantage, China dominated under basket and exploited frequently sloppy play by the African champions for easy baskets.