LONDON (AP) ― Kevin Durant shot the U.S. men’s Olympic basketball team out of trouble, and right into the top seed in their group.

Durant scored 17 of his 28 points during the Americans’ explosive 42-point third quarter, turning a one-point game into a blowout that sent the U.S. soaring into the quarterfinals with a 126-97 victory over Argentina on Monday night.

The NBA scoring champion matched the Argentines’ point total in the period, going 5-of-6 from 3-point range, the last one from well beyond 25 feet. The Americans didn’t stop shooting and scoring until Carmelo Anthony made a 3-pointer in the final second of the quarter while taking what he and the U.S. bench right behind him felt was a cheap shot from Argentina’s Facundo Campazzo, setting off an exchange of words and technical fouls.

“You kind of want to send a message a little bit,” Kobe Bryant said. “This was the second game in a row that a team has played us close. We didn’t want to give them confidence.”

The Americans (5-0) will play Australia (3-2) in a quarterfinal game Wednesday.

LeBron James added 18 points, getting the Americans’ first seven of the third quarter before Durant took over. Chris Paul finished with 17.

“We’re great shooting team, but in close games sometimes you’ve got to go down and get some easy ones, and I wanted the ball, whether it was layups or in the post,” James said. “Once you get a couple easy ones at the rim then the 3-pointers open up and you saw what KD was able to do.”