USA Basketball Team Won Over Lithuania by 5 Points

The 83-point win by U.S over Nigeria is the most lopsided Olympic win ever. And just when everybody thought that this team is tough and unbeatable, Coach K’s boys were tested after they struggled to come back in the fourth quarter during a game with Lithuania to secure a zero loss Olympic record.                                                                                                

King James (referring to superstar Lebron James) scored 9 of his 20 points in the final four minutes of the game as U.S was deeply in serious trouble until the closing minutes. “You want to get tested. The best teams want to be tested. We love the competition,” James said. “I think we’ve got the greatest competitors in our league, in this world, so you want to have a game where you feel like you were tested, and we had that today.”

AP Photo/Charles Krupa

James knocked down a 3-pointer beyond the arc and after Chris Paul stole the inbound pass, James took the ball and delivered one of his signature dunks which woke up the American bench players and set the momentum back on U.S side. Paul kept the ball alive for US team with an offensive rebound which James followed with a left –handed layup after a turnover by Lithuania giving the US a 97-88 breather.

“Definitely toughest game we had since we’ve been here,” Paul said. “Luckily we defended, got some stops down the stretch, guys made a few big plays but we knew this was gonna be a dog fight.”

It was indeed a tough game however it was worth note-taking that U.S still has a powerhouse bench. The Americans simply tired down Lithuania in the last quarter, forcing several turnovers. Lithuania somehow outrebounded U.S with 43.8% compared to a 30.3% and even showed an impressive shooting percentage with 58.5% to U.S’s 44.3% field goal shooting.               

The American Basketball team will be going on head-to-head with Argentina on August 6 at 10:15 pm (5:15pm EDT)

LEADING SCORERS:           

                      

Lebron James        – 20 points 

Carmelo Anthony   -- 20points                   

Kevin Durant         -- 16 points

Deron Williams      -- 12points

SCORE BY PERIODS:          1^st                2^nd            3^rd           4^th       TOTAL

Lithuania   ………………        25               26           21          22    =    94

USA            ………………     33               22           23          21    =     99