MADRID (ACB) – He did not make many headlines, but for a while in Argentina's Olympic semi-final against the United States, Juan Gutierrez was arguably the best player on the floor.

After the South Americans fell behind by 21 by the end of the first quarter, and with Manu Ginobili having been lost for the rest of the Olympics with an ankle injury, Argentina coach Sergio Hernandez looked at his reserves and 2.05m forward Gutierrez delivered big style.

He scored six points and pulled down three rebounds in eight second-quarter minutes as Argentina cut the deficit to just six late in the first half.

The Americans would go on to win the game and the gold medal, while Argentina bounced back to defeat Lithuania in the bronze-medal game.

Gutierrez is playing as if the Olympic experience has given him a huge shot of confidence.

He had 11 points and five rebounds in Granada’s season-opening triumph over Bruesa and against Real Madrid on Thursday, Gutierrez had 22 points and six boards but his team fell just short in their upset bid, losing 81-80.

Spain’s Real Madrid captain Felipe Reyes had 22 points as well for the winners.

In other ACB games on Thursday, Unicaja Malaga following up their 17-point trouncing of Real Madrid with a 91-60 thrashing of Cajasol in Seville, and defending ACB champions Tau Ceramica improved to 2-0 with an 80-67 win over Ricoh Manresa.

FIBA