Three games later in pool play and Team USA is still unbeaten at the 2012 London Olympics. After two convincing victories and a shaky one, the Americans still look like the team to beat as the tournament advances to the knockout stage.

Last Thursday, the Americans throttled Nigeria in a 156-73 massacre that saw Carmelo Anthony continue his dominant offensive play and prolific 3-point shooting off the bench. In just 14 minutes, Melo dropped 37 points on the helpless Nigerians as he knocked down 10 3-pointers (a Team USA record). Even though Nigeria really had no chance in this game with the Americans playing flawless basketball from the start (for once), Melo simply couldn’t miss and helped extend the lead into NBA 2K12 territory. After having a day off, Team USA responded early and never let up as everyone contributed to this demolition of a basketball game. The Americans knocked down a record 29 3-pointers during the rout and looked like they had finally found their touch from behind the arc. Russell Westbrook had 21 points off the bench, Kobe Bryant had 16, Kevin Love added 15 and Kevin Durant followed up with 14. Deron Williams also had 13 points to go with 11 assists. After such a historic blowout, Team USA looked invincible, despite facing an inferior opponent.

On Saturday, it was a completely different story for the Americans, as the ever-so-stubborn Lithuanians gave Team USA all it could handle. Team USA got the narrow 99-94 victory, but their battle with Lithuania showed the world that they aren’t quite invincible. If not for LeBron James, Lithuania may have handed the United States yet another surprising defeat after shocking the world in 2004 by beating Team USA in Athens. LeBron took over in the fourth quarter, willing his team to victory by scoring nine of his 20 points in the final four minutes of the game. In fact, the Americans trailed 82-80 with under six minutes to play before spurting off a 15-4 run to finish Lithuania off.

Carmelo Anthony had 20 points and Kevin Durant added 16 of his own, but for great stretches of time, the fearless Lithuania looked like the better team. Team USA was outrebounded 42-37 in the game and only shot 10-of-33 from the 3-point line. However, the Americans capitalized on 17 steals and were able to turn them into possessions late in the game. The Lithuanians shot 53 percent from the floor and were led by Linsa Kleiza’s 25 points.

After an epic blowout and a nail-biter against Lithuania, it was unclear how the Americans would respond against Argentina, one of their toughest obstacles in the tournament. After one half of play, it was still unclear how Team USA would respond as they only led by one point at the end of the second quarter. But as soon as the ball came in to start the third quarter, a completely different American side came out to play and put the Argentines away early in a 126-97 victory. Kevin Durant led the charge for Team USA, burying Argentina with a barrage of 3-pointers in the third quarter after LeBron James scored the Americans’ first seven points. Durant had 17 of his 28 points in that corner as the Americans dropped 42 points on the helpless Argentine defense. LeBron finished with 18 and Chris Paul added 17.

After such a convincing victory over a quality Olympic opponent, it appears that the only team that can beat Team USA…is Team USA. When the Americans shoot well from beyond the arc (Durant was 8-for-10 and the team was 20-for-39 against Argentina), no one can stop them on offense. Despite lacking team chemistry and team defense, the American’s are completely unstoppable on offense with the world’s greatest bench and so many sharpshooters on the floor. But when Team USA isn’t knocking down 3-pointers and settles for shots that aren’t falling, teams like Lithuania, Spain and Argentina have a chance to contend with the American juggernaut.

As they are undefeated and grabbed the top spot in Pool A, Team USA earned its spot in the quarterfinals against Australia, the fourth seed from Pool B. Australia is 3-2 but shouldn’t prove to be much of a challenge for the Americans, provided they come to play and knock down their perimeter shots. In the end, the gold is there for the taking for Team USA. All they have to do is keep that unstoppable offensive rhythm going.