Three years after its surprising loss in the Olympics, the United States hammered Puerto Rico in a 117-78 revenge victory Tuesday night in the FIBA Americas tournament.

However, the sight of LeBron James dunking over and over again doesn't have the same spark when the team is up by 40 or 50 against players most American fans have never heard of.

That happened every game in this tournament and the latest was no exception. In a Thomas & Mack Center arena that can hold 18,000, attendance, with tickets scaled from $15 to $150, has averaged around 7,000 with a low of 4,028 coming out for Monday night's U.S. victory over Mexico and a high of 9,293 at United States’ game against Brazil.

LeBron James scored 21 points to lead the US, who clinched a spot in Saturday's semifinals, where a victory would earn them a berth in the Beijing Olympics. Kobe Bryant scored 14 but left the court at half way through the third period after he picked up his third foul.

Amare Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler recorded eight rebounds each and Deron Williams led the US in assists with seven. Tayshaun Prince saw some action, 19 minutes of it, after he watched the last game from the bench due to a sprained ankle.

The United States are set to play Uruguay on Wednesday before closing second-round against Argentina on Thursday.