Brazil and Argentina won their final games in the second round at the FIBA Americas Championship on Thursday, setting the matchups for the deciding semifinals.
Manu will lead Argentina against Puerto Rico in Saturday's semifinal match.
San Antonio Spurs teammates Manu Ginobili and Tiago Splitter played for their respective home countries and handled separate foes with success.
One night after losing to Brazil, Ginobili and Argentina bounced back in a big way, overpowering the Dominican Republic 84-58.
Luis Scola of the Houston Rockets had 25 points to lead Argentina, while Ginobili added 17 points.
Al Horford of the Atlanta Hawks had 16 points to lead the Dominican Republic.
Meanwhile, Splitter and Team Brazil remained undefeated in the second round of the tournament with an easy 94-72 win over Puerto Rico.
Marcus Vinicius scored 18 points for Brazil and Splitter added 17 points in the victory.
That set up Saturday’s semifinals where the winners secure berths for the London Olympics.
Brazil faces the Dominican Republic, the only team that have beaten them so far in the tournament in one semifinal, while Argentina will go up against Puerto Rico in the other semifinal match.
The winners will play against each other in Sunday’s finals matchup.
The third through fifth place teams earn spots in a second chance qualifying tournament just before the 2012 London Olympics.
Venezuela beat Uruguay 92-80 on Thursday to clinch fifth place.
Man i think PR is a better matchup to Brazil, RD frontcourt can hurt us a lot…
I wanna see Brazil and Argentina rematch in the finals… Splitter finally played well on offensive side…
I agree, the Dominican Republic beat Brazil early in the tournament.
Argentina has the easier path here, but on the lighter side, Brazil and Argentina have a shot a playing in the FIBA finals. I hope it happens.
It’s looks like Argentina vs. Brazil in the Finals.