Orlando Magic Gameday

Luis Scola scored 37 points, carrying Argentina to a thrilling 93-89 victory over Brazil on Tuesday and into the quarterfinals of the world championship. Overcoming a regional rival guided by the coach who led them to their greatest glory, Argentina advanced to play Lithuania on Thursday. Scola, the Houston Rockets forward who came in as the tournament’s leader with 29 points per game, scored…

The New Jersey Nets have waived forward Sean May. Nets general manager Billy King said Tuesday that May suffered a stress fracture to his left foot during a workout last week. King said the team believes the four- to eight-week rehab period would not afford May a legitimate chance to make the roster. May signed with the Nets on Aug.

Linas Kleiza scored 30 points Tuesday to help send Lithuania into the quarterfinals of the basketball world championship with a 78-67 win over China. China jumped out to a 16-5 lead, but Lithuania used a 16-2 run in the second quarter to go ahead 36-31 with 3:20 left. A 16-3 run then put Lithuania up 64-51 entering the fourth quarter.

Russia reached the quarterfinals of basketball’s world championships against the United States, beating New Zealand 78-56 Monday after Andrey Vorontsevich had 18 points and 11 rebounds. Timofey Mozgov, Russia’s 2.16-meter (7-foot-1) center who recently signed for the New York Knicks, added 16 points and seven rebounds.

Before it can win a world championship, the United States needed to start looking like a world champion. Kevin Durant, Chauncey Billups and the rest of the Americans finally had that appearance Monday, powering into the quarterfinals with a 121-66 victory over Angola. “Obviously we want to stay humble, but at the same time we have to know that we can do it,” forward Kevin Love said.

Turkey used a 21-4 run spanning the second and third quarters on Sunday to eliminate France from the basketball world championship with a 95-77 win. Phoenix Suns forward Hedo Turkoglu scored 20 points and Sinan Guler added 17 for Turkey, which played its first tournament game in the new Sinan Erdem Dome.

Those predicting that the United States will fall short of a world championship are focusing on the back of the jerseys. They no longer include names such as BRYANT or JAMES. Those expecting the Americans to win anyway do so because of what’s still on the front. “I think there is a certain element that does persist that because we have USA on our jersey, that’s good enough,” USA…

Jaka Lokovic scored 19 points and Slovenia hit 16 of 33 3-pointers to eliminate Australia 87-58 Sunday in the round of 16 at the basketball world championship. Lokovic’s corner 3-pointer in the game’s opening seconds sparked a 12-0 run and Slovenia never looked back. Primoz Brezec of the Milwaukee Bucks had 12 points and Goran Dragic added 10 points and eight assists for Slovenia.

Juan Carlos Navarro scored 22 points for Spain in an 80-72 victory that eliminated Greece from the basketball world championships Saturday. The Spaniards made 8 of 18 3-pointers and used a 13-3 run in the fourth quarter to push ahead during the game in the round of 16. Greece closed within 72-68 on Vasileios Spanoulis’ layup with 1:01 left in the game, but Ricky Rubio answered with two free…

Oklahoma City Thunder center Nenad Krstic had 16 points and Aleksander Rasic scored five points in the last 21 seconds to help Serbia edge Croatia 73-72 in the round of 16 at the basketball world championship Saturday. Croatian guard Marko Popovic made two free throws with 5 seconds left to tie the game at 72, but Rasic was fouled by Davor Kus as he attempted a shot with 1 second left.

The Milwaukee Bucks have signed second-round draft pick Darington Hobson. The 6-foot-7, 210-pound junior was taken 37th overall out of New Mexico in this year’s draft. Terms were not disclosed when the signing was announced Friday. Hobson averaged 16.4 points, 8.8 rebounds and 3.6 assists over three college seasons, the first two at Eastern Utah.

All around them, the Americans find compelling matchups for the round of 16: a rematch of the 2006 title game; a coach facing a home country he led to an Olympic gold medal; two bitter rivals to get it all started. All the while, a fairly navigable road right to the semifinals was emerging for the United States.

Eric Gordon scored 21 points for the Americans

LeBron James didn’t change all his teams this summer. James posted on his Twitter feed Thursday that he’s considering going to Columbus, Ohio, on Sept. 11 to see the matchup between No. 2 Ohio State — his longtime team of choice — and No. 13 Miami. And no, the former Cleveland Cavaliers star isn’t rooting for the Hurricanes.

The Atlanta Hawks have signed free agent center Etan Thomas to add bulk in the frontcourt. The 6-foot-10 Thomas spent most of his career with the Washington Wizards but finished last season with Oklahoma City. He’s averaged 5.8 point and 4.8 rebounds per game over his eight-year career, which includes 74 starts.

Marcelo Machado scored 18 points, Anderson Varejao grabbed 12 rebounds in his longest stint at the world championship, and Brazil clinched third place in Group B with a 92-74 victory over Croatia on Thursday. Brazil (3-2) bounced back from a pair of narrow losses to earn a meeting with South American rival Argentina on Tuesday.

With nothing to play for, the United States looked as if it didn’t want to play. Outworked and outhustled, the Americans led winless Tunisia by only four points early in the third quarter before turning the game into a rout over the final 15 minutes of a 92-57 victory Thursday. Eric Gordon scored 21 points for the U.S., which had already clinched first place in its group and was more interested…

Aleksandar Rasic made four free throws in the last 11 seconds Thursday to help Serbia upset top-ranked Argentina 84-82 and win Group A at the basketball world championship. Argentina captain and Houston Rockets forward Luis Scola sank two free throws with 38 seconds left to make it 77-77, but Serbia’s Dusko Savanovic hit a 3-pointer with 18 seconds remaining.

Goran Dragic of the Phoenix Suns scored 18 points, and Slovenia surged into the elimation stage of the world championship with a 65-60 victory over Iran on Thursday. The Slovenians (4-1) won their last three games after losing to the United States to take the No. 2 seed from Group B. They will face Australia, the No.

Charles Abouo scored 19 points to lead Ivory Coast to an 88-79 win over Puerto Rico on Thursday at the basketball world championship. Despite the win, China will move on to Istanbul on a point differential ahead of the Ivory Coast and Puerto Rico in Group C. Mohamed Kone had double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds and Mamadou Lamizana added 17 points for the Ivory Coast.