Team USA defeats Lithuania 96-68 in the semi-finals to move on to the gold-medal game of the FIBA World Cup. USA were tested in the first half, but rallied back with a dominating third quarter to breeze through for a win.

The first quarter for Team USA was one of their worst quarters offensively in the whole tournament. They shot just 28 percent from the field with 6 turnovers. Lithuania was forcing USA to shoot contested jumpers with their solid defensive presence.

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However, Lithuania struggled offensively as well and couldn't capitalize, letting USA gain momentum and finish the quarter on an 11-3 run thanks to Klay Thompson ending USA's drought with 8 points and a couple of threes.

Lithuania's game plan was attacking the basket and had good penetration from their guards while getting their bigs involved in the paint throughout the first half.  In fact, no other team were able to get to the free throw line as much as Lithuania. They had 22 free throw attempts in the first half alone.

Lithuania's aggressive style of play plagued USA with foul trouble. Four starters - Kenneth Faried, Stephen Curry, James Harden, and Anthony Davis - were all sitting on the bench with foul trouble at some point in the game.

DeMarcus Cousins and Jonas Valanciunas even got in a little tussle that almost turned bad. Valanciunas pushed him with his elbow to the neck, and it took every ounce of Cousins' body to withdraw from escalating the situation.

Despite Lithuania battling for 20 whole minutes only down by eight points heading into the second half, USA quickly rallied going on a 10-0 run to open the third quarter and never looked back.

USA blew it wide-open outscoring Lithuania 33-14 in the third quarter, in large part due to James Harden catching fire putting up 16 points alone after going scoreless in the first half.

With a 28-point lead, USA seemed to just coast in the fourth quarter to finish the game. Kyrie Irving was the leading scorer with 18 points adding four assists and a steal. Klay Thompson and James Harden followed close behind putting up 16 points each.

Team USA is now moving on to the gold-medal Finals game of the FIBA World Cup set for Sep. 14, and will be facing the winner of the France-Serbia semi-finals game tomorrow. 

TagsFIBA World Cup, Team USA, Lithuania, Gold-medal game, Finals, semi-finals