Other than Fort Knox, Baltimore is about to have as much gold as any American city.

Carmelo Anthony would like to play at least some role in that.

The Nuggets forward and Olympic swimming sensation Michael Phelps are from Baltimore. Phelps was one of about 20 U.S. swimmers to watch Team USA's 106-57 rout of Germany on Monday and afterward stopped by the locker room.

"He just came in and laughed and joked with us," said Anthony, who Wednesday saw Phelps win Nos. 4 and 5 of his eight gold medals.

"We're part of his history, too. We sat and watched it and we were proud of him. . . . He's got 14 (career) gold medals. Hopefully, I can bring one back."

Anthony and his teammates are well on their way. They won Group B with a 5-0 record and will face Australia in Wednesday's quarterfinals.

"We destroyed them," Phelps said. "It was a fun game to watch."

Then he had fun in the locker room.

"These are the guys I'm always watching on TV," Phelps said. "It's cool to sit in here, hang out and be one of the guys."

A lot of guys came up big for Team USA, which was playing before NBA commissioner David Stern. Center Dwight Howard, who donned a pair of swim goggles during a postgame news conference, scored 22 points, LeBron James added 18 and Kobe Bryant had 13.

After having broken out of a slump to start the Games, Anthony made only 2-of-7 shots for four points. But he's not worried.

"It's kind of hard to get it going when you're already winning by 40 or 50 points," Anthony said of the Americans, who led 31-12 after the first quarter. "I'll be back on my game (Wednesday)."

That's when Team USA runs into the only opponent to have given it any kind of game this summer. The Americans, who also went 5-0 in exhibition play before the Olympics, beat Australia 87-76 in Shanghai in their final

tuneup.

"They're not intimidated," Bryant said of Australia, which handed Lithuania its first Olympic loss, 106-75 on Monday, to finish 3-2 but still couldn't get higher than Group A's No. 4 seed. "They won't back down. They'll come ready to play."

The Germans didn't. They were down 20-3 before they knew what hit them.

Having entered with no chance to advance, Germany (1-4) used plenty of players. Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki was held to 14 points and Los Angeles Clippers center Chris Kaman, a U.S. citizen who was able to get a German passport earlier this summer because his great grandparents emigrated from the country, managed only six.

"It's been awhile since I've heard (the U.S. anthem). I've been listening to the German anthem and other countries," said Kaman, who said he had no regrets joining Germany and said U.S. players greeted him warmly before the game.

But then they abused Kaman and his teammates.

"Nobody is going to beat them," Kaman said. "It's not going to happen."

Sounds just like what was said about Phelps.

U.S. 106, Germany 57

U.S. (5-0)

Howard 9-10 4-9 22, James 7-10 0-0 18, Bryant 5-10 0-0 13, Wade 4-6 2-4 10, Paul 4-8 0-0 10, Williams 3-6 2-2 9, Bosh 2-3 3-3 7, Boozer 3-4 0-0 6, Anthony 2-7 0-0 4, Kidd 1-1 0-0 3, Redd 1-9 0-0 2, Prince 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 42-77 11-18 106.

GERMANY (1-4)

Nowitzki 4-10 5-5 14, Jagla 4-10 0-0 10, Schultze 4-11 0-0 9, Greene 2-8 1-2 6, Kaman 3-9 0-0 6, Wysocki 2-5 0-0 5, Roller 1-5 0-0 3, Ohlbrecht 1-5 0-0 2, Zwiener 1-3 0-0 2, Garrett 0-0 0-0 0, Hamann 0-4 0-2 0, Femerling 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 22-73 6-9 57.

U.S.31 22 30 23 - 106

Germany12 17 17 11 - 57

Three-point goals - U.S. 11-26 (James 4-5, Bryant 3-5, Paul 2-4, Williams 1-2, Kidd 1-1, Wade 0-1, Anthony 0-3, Redd 0-4, Prince 0-1), Germany 7-30 (Jagla 2-6, Nowitzki 1-4, Schultze 1-4, Greene 1-5, Wysocki 1-3, Roller 1-4, Ohlbrecht 0-1, Zwiener 0-2, Hamann 0-1). Fouled out - None. Rebounds - U.S. 53 (Howard 10), Germany 38 (Nowitzki 8). Assists - U.S. 20 (Williams 5), Germany 9 (Jagla 2). Fouls - U.S. 15, Germany 14.

STANDINGS, RESULTS, SCHEDULE

Men

GROUP A

Country W L Pts.

Lithuania 4 1 9

Argentina 4 1 9

Croatia 3 2 8

Australia 3 2 8

Russia 1 4 6

Iran 0 5 5

GROUP B

UNITED STATES 5 0 10

Spain 4 1 9

Greece 3 2 8

China 2 3 7

Germany 1 4 6

Angola 0 5 5

MONDAY'S SCORES

United States 106, Germany 57

Croatia 91, Iran 57

Australia 106, Lithuania 75

Greece 91, China 77

Spain 98, Angola 50

Argentina 91, Russia 79

QUARTERFINALS, WEDNESDAY

United States vs. Australia, 8:15 a.m.

Spain vs. Croatia, 12:30 a.m.

Lithuania vs. China, 2:45 a.m.

Argentina vs. Greece, 6 a.m.

Women

QUARTERFINALS, TODAY

United States vs. South Korea, 6 a.m.

China vs. Belarus, 12:30 a.m.

Australia vs. Czech Republic, 2:45 a.m.

Russia vs. Spain, 8:15 a.m.

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