2.29pm BST

Having vanquished Argentina in the semifinals, today the USA men's basketball team, as everyone expected, will be playing in the gold medal game against, as many expected, the Spanish national team. Despite a few games that were closer than expected, most notably a close game against Lithuania in pool play, Team USA has remained unbeaten while facing every country's best efforts. If all goes to plan, they should just be forty minutes of game time away from winning their second consecutive gold medal, their fourteenth overall.



This sounds more impressive if you don't compare the to the USA women's team. Only going for two consecutive gold medals? Yesterday the US women won their fifth consecutive one, blowing out France 86-50. The USA women seemed to be operating from the same script as their more celebrated counterparts on the men's side: For the first half, they were a bit shaky defensively and generally looked like they had underestimated their opponents. Then, as if they flipped a switch, they adjusted in the third quarter and blew by their opponents to an almost humiliating degree. Now it's the men's turn to continue the dominance that America demands from its Olympic basketball teams.



There is a lot on the line today for LeBron James who is looking to add a gold medal to his 2012 haul of hardware that includes the NBA regular season MVP award and his first NBA Finals MVP. So far, he's been far and away the best player on what could very well be the second best group of basketball players ever assembled (second only to the 1992 Dream Team featuring, of course, Michael Jordan). The USA men's team wins here, LeBron essentially is a shoe-in for Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year. If the USA does lose, he's going to get the brunt of the criticism. There's been no question throughout their Olympic run that this is LeBron's team: he runs the offense, he's been able to take over the game when Team USA has needed separation and he's looking as good as he did during the NBA playoffs.



Not that LeBron's is the only legacy on the line if the unthinkable happens today and Spain defeats the USA. There's a lot at stake for guard Kobe Bryant and head coach Mike Krzyzewski too. This is expected to be their final Olympics game. I can't imagine either to be content closing out their time with the national team with the silver. Heck, I can't imagine Kobe content period.



Spain will be a tough matchup however, one of two teams (along with Argentina) that were considered the biggest threats to upset Team USA on their way to the gold medal. They're led by Pau Gasol of the Los Angeles Lakers, along with his brother Marc, currently with the Memphis Grizzlies. In addition, the Spanish team has Serge ibaka who played valuable minutes in the NBA Finals for the Oklahoma City Thunder, and not to mention Jose Calderon from the Toronto Raptors and Victor Claver who plays for the Portland Trail Blazers. (Sadly, the endlessly entertaining point guard Ricky Rubio is still recovering from knee surgery, Rubio's artistic and often improbable passes would have been a joy to witness throughout the Olympics.) Essentially this is a NBA team, and a pretty darn good one at that. Plus, they have a significant size advantage over Team USA. They're going to need to play at their absolute best and hope the USA has an off-day, but they still could win. It should be at least good game for the first three quarters or so. Elsewhere, the battle for the bronze is settled. Russia defeated Argentina 81-77 for their first post-Soviet Union men's basketball medal.



As one of the major events of the Olympics, the men's basketball gold medal game fittingly occurs while things wind down on the final day of the London Olympics. So, anything goes here as we wrap up our coverage of the USA men's basketball team. We're taking any and all related comments, questions and predictions here. You can email hunter.felt.freelance@guardiannews.com or tweet @HunterFelt. I know that I'm as excited for this gold medal game as my girlfriend is excited about the Spice Girls reuniting for the Closing Ceremonies (this is saying a lot, trust me). Tip-off is 10am EST (3pm BST). I'll be back with lineups, and probably a cup of coffee, shortly. (I was honestly unaware that Sundays even had an 8am.)