ISTANBUL • Kevin Durant scored 33 points and the United States beat Russia 89-79 on Thursday to move within two wins of its first world championship since 1994.

The victory came on the 38th anniversary of the Soviet Union's win over the Americans for an Olympic gold medal, a game with such a controversial ending that the U.S. players refused to accept their silver medals.

Durant made sure there would be no worries at the finish of this one, shooting 11 of 19 while just missing Carmelo Anthony's world championship team record of 35 points set in 2006.

The U.S. will play Saturday against Lithuania, which beat Argentina 104-85. Turkey and Serbia play in the other semifinal.

Chauncey Billups scored 15 points and Russell Westbrook finished with 12, including seven in a row for the Americans when their athleticism finally turned away a Russian team that had the pace to its liking for the first half.

The U.S. and Russia have met many times since 1972, including a U.S. victory 16 years ago in Toronto that gave the Americans their last world championship.

But none of the games is as memorable as the clash in Munich, when the Soviets were given a third chance after the Americans stopped them twice in the final 3 seconds, and they eventually scored on the second do-over for a 51-50 victory.

No player on the young American team is old enough to remember that game — many are barely old enough to remember the Cold War. But Mike Bantom, the NBA's senior vice president of player development, played on that U.S. team and is in Turkey with the Americans.

"I told him today, 'I know nothing's going to bring that back, man, but at least we'll try to make you at least smile today,'" Billups said. "And he was like, 'Yeah, that'd be nice.'"