BARCELONA: Holders the United States ran riot in a 119-76 win over Slovenia while Lithuania beat Turkey 73-61 on Tuesday to set up a mouth-watering basketball World Cup semi-final.
Hosts Spain were scheduled to take on European champions France and Brazil would clash with dark horses Serbia in the other two quarter-finals in Madrid yesterday.
The Slovenians held their own valiantly in the opening half against the Americans and were only 49-42 down at the interval as forward Domen Lorbek produced a superb performance.
The champions at times looked pedestrian in the first half as their captain James Harden missed his first seven shots, with fellow guard Klay Thompson and athletic centre Anthony Davis pulling the strings to keep them in the driving seat.
But the second period produced one-way traffic as the US hit top gear with six players finishing in double scoring digits. Thompson had a game-high 20 points while Harden and Kenneth Faried added 14 each.
Having arrived in Spain with a squad missing top NBA talent who turned down invitations to play, long-serving US coach Mike Krzyzewski was pleased with the effort.
“We played hard but we just couldn’t finish in the first half and then the floodgates opened after that,” he told a news conference.
“We are beatable there is no doubt about that and that is why I am pleased how we handled it. Normally you get frustrated but we kept our composure and were mature. The team is not a powerhouse and we know from previous experience that it is not easy with a young team.”
Slovenia coach Jure Zdovc said: “We tried and for the first 23 minutes or so we were close but the power that they have was too much for us.
“They are a good team but they are not unbeatable and I think that the semi-final will be very different.”
Former European champions Lithuania, who finished third in the 2010 World Cup, needed a strong final quarter to see off Turkey who made a brighter start and took a 14-6 lead.
Lethal long-range shooting hauled the Lithuanians back into the game as they nailed 10 of 19 three-pointers to turn a 40-36 deficit early in the second half into an unassailable 12-point lead in the closing stages. Shooting guard Renaldas Seibutis led Lithuania with 19 points, Martynas Pocius added 13 and towering centre Jonas Valanciunas amassed 12 to go with 13 commanding rebounds.
Meanwhile, Australian basketball authorities have angrily denied claims the national team deliberately lost a group match at the World Cup, calling the allegations “insulting” and “downright wrong”.
Basketball’s ruling body FIBA on Monday launched an investigation into Australia’s 91-83 defeat to Angola in Spain over suspicions they wanted to lose to avoid playing the United States.
“It is widely suspected that Australia lost that game in order to avoid having to face the reigning world champions USA until the semi-finals,” FIBA said, in a statement which was slammed by Basketball Australia.
The Australian body said late on Tuesday: “Basketball Australia categorically rejects any suggestion that the Australian Boomers were a party to contriving the result of the 2014 FIBA World Cup game between Australia and Angola.
“The Australian Boomers went into the game against Angola to win — plain and simple.
“Claims to the contrary are widely speculative, insulting to the Australian sporting culture and to our playing group who gave their very best throughout this tournament. They’re downright wrong.” AGENCIES
