The Olympic men’s basketball tournament is underway and the US team is looking very strong at this moment. After a record breaking win in their previous game, LeBron and co faced a much stronger team on Saturday in the game between Lithuania but they still managed to finish on top with a 99-94 final score. This score is not as exciting as the one against Nigeria on Thursday when the American players got a total of 156 points and thus setting a new record for most points in an Olympic basketball match.
Lithuanian team looked very strong with a well-organized defense that was sure not to allow the same triple digits score but it still wasn’t enough to take a win against the favorite team for the tournament according to the best betting sites.
The game was thrilling to watch and nobody could say for sure who was going to win it until the final whistle went off. The Lithuanian team had an amazing run of 10 points during the fourth quarter and managed to take the lead over the Americans with 82 to 80. This lead didn’t last long however and LeBron James showed his strength once again and started building an advantage for his team with a nice three-pointer that gave the US team a 4 points lead with 90-86 which was quickly followed by another LeBron dunk. He definitely gave it his all after seeing the Lithuanian team leading and did whatever he could to win it for his team.
This game was very difficult for the US team, especially if we consider the fact that they came from a very easy game where they broke an Olympic record. The players might have been in the same mindset as in the previous game that they can easily win this but the Lithuanian team was a lot more organized and kept the pressure on until the game was over. The US coach declared that this game was terrifying but also that this might have been the best thing that could have happened to them. A close win for such a strong team can be e big wake-up sign. He also mentioned that seeing LeBron James take over the game like that towards the end was very pleasing.
Lithuanian players had a very good game and played their strategies well, not leaving a lot of options for the Americans but it still wasn’t enough in the end. However, if we compare this game with the one against Nigeria where almost every shot found the basket, the US team only made 44 percent in this game while Lithuania shot 58 percent.
LeBron and Carmelo Anthony both got 20 points and they went on an amazing 37 points scoring spree under 15 minutes. For Lithuania, the most points were scored by Linas Kleiza, 25.
The USA team is now 4-0 in the tournament and will be going up against Argentina on Monday. It is also important to note that Russia is now 4-0 in Group B while the hosts, Great Britain, haven’t managed to take a single win.
