The USA will face Lithuania in the semi-finals after overcoming Russia 89-79 at the FIBA World Championships in Turkey on Thursday.

Oklahoma City Thunder small forward Kevin Durant starred for the Americans, piling on 33 points and sparking a 26-17 third-quarter rout that proved the difference on the 38th anniversary of the Soviet Union's controversial gold-medal victory over Team USA at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

Neither team disappointed early in the quarter final, with the lead changing hands six times in an even 25-25 first quarter.

The Americans peeled off a 12-point run in the second before Andrey Vorontsevich and Sasha Kaun pulled the Russians back into the game with a couple of late jumpers to trail 44-39 at the break.

Durant's Oklahoma team-mate Russel Westbrook and Denver Nuggets guard Chauncey Billups combined for 15 points in the third as the USA pulled away 70-56.

Russia got as close as 84-72 in the final quarter, but a leg injury to Vorontsevich (14 points, 12 rebounds) in the latter stages ruled out an upset victory.

The USA progress to the semi-finals and a clash with wildcards Lithuania, who held off a last-quarter surge to stun world No. 1 Argentina 104-85.

The Lithuanians used a suffocating man-on-man defence to restrict Houston Rockets forward Luis Scola to just 13 points, a significant feat given Scola was averaging 30.3 points per game heading into the quarter-finals.

Milwaukee Bucks shooting guard Carlos Delfino stepped up with 25 points for the Argentines, but it was not enough to counter an even performance from Lithuania, who had seven players score into the double-digits.

Some sharp shooting from the paint, combined with Argentina's inability to hit a three, put Lithuania up 50-30 at the break, before a 35-23 run in the third gave the Lithuanians a healthy 85-53 margin heading into the final quarter.

Delfino and Leonardo Gutierrez led an unlikely comeback attempt in the last but the deficit was simply too great, handing Lithuania their first championship semi-finals appearance in their history.

For Argentina, the loss marks the first time they have missed the final four at the world championships since 1998.