May 25, 2012
World Championships finals: September 12
FINALS, September 12: Turkey 64-81 USA, Serbia 88-99 Lithuania

USA World Champions 2010 (photo FIBA.com)The United States of America became the basketball world champion for the fourth time and first since 1994 by beating Turkey 64-81 in front of a sold-out crowd in the FIBA World Championships gold-medal game in Istanbul. Kevin Durant led the Americans with 28 points and Lamar Odom posted 15 points and 11 rebounds for the winners. Durant was later named tournament MVP for his performances. Hedo Turkoglu scored 16 for Turkey, which earned a silver for its first medal of any kind at the World Championships. Despite Turkey’s size advantage, USA won the battle of the boards 34-42. That coupled with a poor shooting night for the hosts paved the way to an American win. Durant hit from outside early, but Omer Onan was sharp to keep Turkey close at 7-9. Chauncey Billups attacked the Turkish zone and recorded points from the line. Turkoglu stepped and gave Turkey a 15-14 lead with a triple from the corner. Triples from Durant and Stephen Curry put USA back on top. A pair of Russel Westbrook free throws made it 17-22 after 10 minutes. Westbrook attacked the basket for a three-point play to open the second quarter. Efes Pilsen’s Kerem Tunceri narrowed the gap to 6, however USA went up by double figures after Durant’s fourth three-pointer. Kevin Durant - USA (photo FIBA.com)Turkoglu and Durant swapped triples, but Turkey never mounted a run before halftime. Ersan Ilyasova got to the line, but so did Westbrook to keep USA ahead 32-42 at the break. Durant hit a pair of threes to open the second half and silence the Turkish crowd. Odom made it an 18-point game before Efes’s Ender Arslan stepped up with a three. Onan got to the line for free throws and Arslan added another three to make it 41-52, prompting a USA timeout. Rudy Gay ended the American drought and Westbrook sank a triple to restore control for USA. A Kerem Gonlum tip-in gave Turkey a little hope at 48-61 heading into the fourth quarter. Derrick Rose scored twice in transition to push the USA cushion back to 17. An Odom three and then a layup pushed the USA lead to 50-70 and it soon peaked at 22 on an Odom tip-in. Tunceri hit from outside and Gonlum from near, but the Americans seemed to have an answer for every Turkish score. In the closing minutes, both coaches allowed all their players to get some time on the floor before the buzzer sounded and signaled to the Americans time to celebrate.



Lithuania celebrates bronce medal (photo FIBA.com)Lithuania claimed its first medal of any kind at the FIBA World Championships by downing Serbia 88-99. Lithuania pulled away in the second quarter, led by 10 at halftime and was never in trouble in the second half. Reigning Alphonso Ford Top Scorer Trophy winner Linas Kleiza shined with 33 points for the winners, helping Lithuania outshoot and outrebound the Serbians. Paulius Jankunas of Zalgiris added 15 points for Lithuania, Simas Jasaitis posted 14 points and 10 rebounds, Mantas Kalnietis from Zalgiris added 14 points and 5 assists and Zalgiris teammate Marty Pocius netted 12. Real Madrid’s Novica Velickovic paced Serbia with 18 points, Marko Keselj of Olympiacos scored 12, Power Electronics Valencia forward Dusko Savanovic scored 10 and Partizan guard Aleksandar Rasic dished 10 assists in the loss. The teams traded scores early as Serbia took a small lead when Keselj sandwiched a pair of triple around one from Kleiza. After Kleiza scored from the line to make it 11-9, Serbia took off with Nenad Krstic converting a three-point play to cap a 7-0 spurt. Jankunas turned things around for Lithuania and Pocius followed with a triple to cut the gap to 4. Jankunas remained his team’s go-to guy and Pocius put Lithuania on top from the line for a 22-23 score after 10 minutes. Former Eurocup Rising Star Award winner Milan Macvan came off the bench and tied the game at the start of the second quarter and the teams stayed close for several minutes after that. Jankunas scored and then set up Jasaitis to put Lithuania up 26-30. Despite a three-point play from Velickovic, Kleiza stretched the lead further and Jasaitis connected from downtown to make it 39-31. Kleiza remained red hot in lifting his side to a double-digit advantage before Kalnietis threw down a fast break slam. A triple by Rasic kept Serbia within 38-48 at the break. Halftime did not take away from Lithuania’s momentum as Kalnietis buried a triple and Kleiza took the lead to 15. Keselj scored Serbia’s first second-half basket after two-and-a-half minutes, but Kleiza’s fifth three of the game made it 43-62. Velickovic and Ivan Paunic managed to narrow the gap to 15, however Lithuania was soon up by 20 and led 54-72 at the end of the quarter. Serbia never quit, but Kalnietis shined early in the final quarter as the Lithuanian lead peaked at 58-80. Teodosic sat after picking up a technical foul, but Serbia showed signs of life as Velickovic and Savanovic tried to narrow the gap. Serbia got as close as 12 on a Savanovic three-point play, but it proved to be too little, too late as Jonas Maciulis of Armani Jeans Milano nailed a back-breaking three-pointer with three minutes remaining and Lithuania started to celebrate its first medal at the World Championships.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Euroleague.net
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