Spain, Argentina set up clash

Spain and Argentina will contest a fifth-place playoff at the Basketball World Championships after both won consolation games in Istanbul on Saturday (AEST).

Defending champions Spain, who were knocked out in the quarter-finals by an impressive Serbian outfit on Wednesday, overcame Slovenia 97-80.

Juan Carlos Navarro came alive in the second-half for the Spaniards, finishing with a game-high 26 points, while Rudy Fernandez and Fran Vazquez each scored 16 points.

After struggling early and playing catch-up for much of the first three quarters, Spain found themselves ahead by two points at the last break.

Sergion Llull then made two three-pointers during a 15-6 run that crushed Slovenian spirits, before Navarro sunk another from long range to give the Spaniards an 84-73 lead with just under four minutes remaining.

Argentina progressed to the playoff following a 73-61 win over Russia, Luis Scola of the Houston Rockets scoring 27 points for the South Americans.

Argentina stormed to an 11-point lead at the beginning of the second-quarter but Russia, who were conquered by title favourites the USA in the quarters, reeled the margin in to just three points at half-time.

A Leonardo Gutierrez three-pointer on the three-quarter time buzzer gave the Argentines a slender two-point lead, before they increased that to a sizeable last-quarter advantage that the Russians couldn't reel in.

The semi-finals take place on Sunday, with the USA to face Lithuania while hosts Turkey to play Serbia.