BASKETBALL : U.S. TAKES OUT ITS INSECURITY ON BRAZIL.

Byline: Jon Wilner Daily News Staff Writer

Forget the rumors about Dream Team games being boring. There was a five-minute standing ovation in the Georgia Dome Tuesday night.

It was for the gold medal-winning U.S. women's gymnastics team - the ``Magnificent Seven,'' they were called - but that's besides the point.

As for the Dream Team itself, well, the day simply oozed excitement. It all began at 11 a.m., when Omni Hotel security evacuated the building because an object that resembled an explosive (but wasn't) was found.

The Omni is located next to Centennial Park, which, coincidentally, re-opened Tuesday morning.

Charles Barkley said security is ``starting to weigh on people's minds,'' but he added that the Omni has ``the best security. We call it `The Rock.' ''

Eleven hours later, the Dream Team whipped Brazil 98-75 despite 26 points by Brazil's legendary gunner Oscar Schmidt.

The game was notable because it marked the beginning of medal-round play.

``You could see, especially with Brazil, that they had a lot more intensity,'' Dream Team coach Lenny Wilkens said of the quarterfinals atmosphere. ``We came out in the second half and stepped it up a little. The last seven minutes we seemed to lose a little interest.''

With the U.S. leading 35-29, Barkley rumbled in for a power dunk. Then Penny Hardaway sliced through Brazil's ``defense'' for a layup. He was fouled but missed the free throw. The ball eventually scooted out to Mitch Richmond, who nailed a 3-pointer while being fouled.

His four-point play gave the Dream Team a 43-29 lead, and the margin never again dipped below double digits.

Afterwards, Wilkens expressed a smidgen of concern about the slow start, but it wasn't unexpected.

``We played this team two or three weeks ago in Cleveland and beat them by 50 points, so probably in the back of our minds we thought it would be a cakewalk,'' Reggie Miller said.

The Dream Team will play Australia, a surprise winner over Croatia, in Thursday's semifinals.

But before the three-game medal-round began, Barkley, with security on his mind, had a suggestion for Olympic officials: ``I think we should play all three of those teams today and get the hell out of town.''