Team USA advances to FIBA World Cup final with win over Lithuania

The dominant defensive effort keyed the win for the U.S., which will now face either France or Serbia on Sunday in the final. One more victory would give the Americans a goal medal and guaranteed qualification to the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Kyrie Irving was the leading scorer for Team USA with 18 points on 8-of-15 shooting. He also added four assists in the win. James Harden added 16 points and three steals, while Klay Thompson came off the bench to score 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting.

USA Basketball’s semifinal romp over Lithuania ended with a bit of scrapping. Klay Thompson got involved with a few Lithuania players, his teammates joined him, then a snarling Mike Krzyzewski stepped in to put an end to it all:

Not quite a Van Gundy performance, but not bad.

This stopped before anything bad happened, but, DAMN, for that split-second where Cousins reared up, it seemed as if this could turn into a brawl ugly enough to spark a permanent rift in United States-Lithuania foreign relations.

His reaction was very much provoked, as Valanciunas elbowed him super-hard in the throat:

Lithuania is hanging around against Team USA in large part because they’re asking whoever James Harden is guarding to take him off the dribble. (Harden is in foul trouble, but mostly he’s being attacked because he’s James Harden). After one especially successful sequence, ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla dropped the line of the tournament.