May 25, 2012
World Championships quarterfinals: September 9
September 9: Lithuania 104-85 Argentina, USA 89-79 Russia

Martinas Pocius - Lithunia (Photo FIBA.com)Lithuania made it to the FIBA World Championships semifinals for the first time ever by overwhelming Argentina 104-85 in Istanbul on Thursday. Lithuania is set to face the United States in one of the semifinals on Saturday while Argentina will battle for fifth place. Simas Jasaitis led 7 Lithuanian players in double digits with 19 points. All-Euroleague forward Linas Kleiza added 17, Marty Pocius of Zalgiris and Tomas Delininkaitis each had 16, while Paulius Jankunas, his Zalgiris teammate Mantas Kalnietis and Jonas Maciulis of AJ Milano got 12 apiece for Lithuania. Carlos Delfino led Argentina with 25 points. Luis Scola added 13 for Argentina. Lithuania tried Power Electronics center Robertas Javtokas on Scola in the opening minutes but back-to-back layups by Delfino soon gave Argentina a 3-6 lead. Lithuania found an early go-to guy in Kalnietis, as his team adjusted its defense. Pocius and Jasaitis struck from downtown in a 8-0 run that Jankunas capped with a tip-in, good for a 17-10 Lithuanian lead. Argentina could not get Scola involved due to Jankunas' outstanding defense. Asefa Estudiantes forward Pancho Jasen took over with a wild dunk-and-foul but Delininkaitis followed a triple with a driving layup to give Lithuania a double-digit lead, 28-18, after 10 minutes. Lithuania kept excelling in defense and another triple by Jasaitis boosted his team's lead to 35-20. Lithuania buried its opening eight shots from downtown and a driving layup by Kleiza made it an 18-point game, 46-28. A buzzer-beating tip-in by Kalnietis fixed the halftime score at 50-30. Lithuania opened the third quarter with a 6-0 run that broke the game open, 56-30. Scola tried to change things for Argentina but he didn't find any help around. Meanwhile, Jankunas and yet another three-pointer by Jasaitis forced Argentina to call timeout at 66-36. Real Madrid playmaker Pablo Prigioni, Delfino and Jasen buried respective three-pointers to get Argentina within 72-51 late in this period. Kleiza and Maciulis stepped up and a three-pointer by Delininkaitis sealed the outcome, 85-53, after 30 minutes. Everything was said and done already, as even when Argentine kept trying, all Lithuanian fans in the stands were celebrating an impressing win.



Kevin Duran - USA (photo FIBA.com)The United States of America reached the FIBA World Championships semifinals by downing archrivals Russia 89-79 in Istanbul on Thursday. USA will play either Argentina or Lithuania, that face each other in the final quarterfinals game tonight at 20:00 CET. Kevin Durant paced the winners with 33 points. Chauncey Billups added 15 while Russel Westbrook had 12 for USA. Sergey Bykov led Russia with 17 points. His CSKA teammate Andrey Vorontsevich posted a double-double of 14 points and 12 rebounds while Timofey Mozgov had 13 points. Bykov got Russia going with a three-pointer but Odom and Durant soon allowed USA to get a 6-3 edge. Russia kept finding ways to beat USA's zone defense, as Vorontsevich and Bykov struck from downtown for a 8-9 lead. Russia entered the foul bonus too early, however, and a 7-0 run that Billups capped with a triple put USA back ahead, 15-9. Dimitriy Khvostov of Dynamo Moscow nailed a three-pointer, Mozgov scored twice in the paint and an off-balance layup by Dynamo guard Evgeniy Voronov gave his team a 20-23 edge.  Sergey Bykov - Russia (photo FIBA.com)A layup by Mozgov fixed the score at 25-25 after 10 minutes. Khvostov scored in transition and Vorontsevich added a five-meter jumper for a 25-29 Russian lead early in the second quarter. Bykov kept pacing Russia with back-to-back baskets to make USA call timeout at 30-35. Derrick Rose and Eric Gordon fueled a 12-0 run that Andre Iguodala capped with a power layup, good for a 42-35 lead. Vorontsevich and Mozgov kept Russia within 44-39 at halftime. Durant and Billups shined right after the break but three-pointers by Khvostov and Sergey Monya of BC Khimki kept Russia in the game, 50-45. USA tried to play more physical midway through the third quarter, as Russia tried a box-and-one zone defense against Durant. A fast break dunk by Westbrook soon gave USA its first double-digit lead, 58-47, forcing Russia to call timeout. Russia could not find the way to the basket while Westbrook, Lamar Odom and a put-back layup by Tyson Chandler helped USA to make it a 14-point game, 70-56, after 30 minutes. Russia did not give up, however, as back-to-back dunks by Voronov and Mozgov forced USA to call timeout, 84-72, with under 4 minutes left. Durant followed a jumper with a three-point play to seal the outcome down the stretch.
Thursday, September 09, 2010
Euroleague.net
PrintPrint Send to a FriendSend to a Friend ShareShare

Special Features

Interviews
Vassilis Spanoulis , Olympiacos Piraeus
Vassilis Spanoulis - Olympiacos Piraeus
Six months ago, fans outside of Greece would have recognized few of the Olympiacos players who were not named... MORE
Interviews
Kostas Papanikolaou , Olympiacos Piraeus
Kostas Papanikolaou - Olympiacos
Small forward Kostas Papanikolaou is a central piece of the young core of players that has led Olympiacos Piraeus... MORE
Interviews
Dusan Ivkovic , Olympiacos Piraeus
Dusan Ivkovic
Once again this season, Dusan Ivkovic showed why he is a living legend among basketball coaches by guiding... MORE

Submenu