BEIJING — The U.S. men's Olympic basketball beat reigning world champions Spain 119-82 Saturday to remain unbeaten and clinch first place in its group.

In the other standout game of the day, Yao Ming scored 25 points to lead China to a thrilling 59-55 win over Germany, putting the hosts on course for a second straight appearance in the medal round.

LeBron James scored 18 points Saturday for the United States (4-1), which will be the No. 1 seed from Group B in the medal round and face the fourth-place team from Group A in Wednesday's quarterfinals. Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony each scored 16 points.

The Americans made 48 percent of their 3-pointers (12-of-25) after hitting only 29 percent in their first three games, turning the game against the reigning world champions into a rout.

China needed the win to stay alive in the tournament after losses to the U.S. and Spain.

Yao, the Houston Rockets center, posted the game's first four points and was the emotional leader in the pivotal contest, constantly chest bumping teammates and encouraging teammates with high-fives. Yi Jianlian of the New Jersey Nets added nine points and pulled down 11 rebounds for China (2-2).

The players celebrated the victory at midcourt as if they had won a medal.

"I'm very happy for the players. It was a difficult game psychologically. We played at home and had to win," China's Lithuanian-born coach Jonas Kazlauskas said.

Kazlauskas said the key to victory had been a strong defense and having Yao's inside game working. He also praised the performance of recent Los Angeles Lakers' signee Sun Yue, who finished with five points and five rebounds, saying he had helped gird the defense.

Dirk Nowitzki scored 24 points and had 15 rebounds for Germany. The Germans, 1-3, appear doomed to bounce out of the tournament in Nowitzki's first Olympic appearance.

Germany's coach Dirk Bauermann, who was seen upbraiding the referees after the final whistle, said he thought the game could have gone either way, but that China had an edge in key areas.

"They were just a little bit better defensively than we were and they made the big shots," Bauermann said.

Germany next face the U.S., while China plays Greece, silver medal winner at the world championships in Japan last year.

Milwaukee Bucks center Andrew Bogut scored 22 points to lead Australia to a 95-80 win over European champions Russia in Group A.

Bogut, who recently signed a five-year, US$72.5 million contract extension with Milwaukee, hit eight of 13 field goals and pulled down a team-leading eight rebounds in the win.

C.J. Bruton added another 22 points, while Viktor Khryapa led Russia with 21 points.

Russia fell behind 27-16 in the first quarter and were never able to make up the difference, while Australia took full advantage of the numerous fouls called on their opponents.

Australia, which evened its record at 2-2, plays Lithuania on Monday while Russia faces defending Olympic champions Argentina.

In another Group A game, Mindaugas Lukauskis scored 20 points to lead Lithuania to an 86-73 victory over Croatia. Narrowly behind for the first three quarters, Lithuania turned on the heat in the fourth, capitalizing on Croatian mistakes and nailing outside shots.

Linas Kleiza added 18 points for Lithuania, while Roko-Leni Ukic scored 13 points for Croatia and Zoran Planinic contributed another 11.

San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobli scored 32 points to boost defending Olympic champion Argentina to a 97-82 victory over Asian champion Iran.

Houston Rockets forward Luis Scola contributed another 20 points to help Argentina improve to 3-1. Center Hamed Ehadadi led Iran in scoring with 21 points.

Iran remains winless with no chance of qualifying for the medal round. Argentina's win puts it second in Group A behind unbeaten Lithuania, with a 3-1 record.

In an earlier Group B game, Ioannis Bourousis scored 22 points in Greece's 102-61 rout of Angola. The African champions face elimination after four winless matches.