Team USA played against Lithuania on Sunday in the 2023 FIBA World Cup and lost 110-104. The Americans have now lost their first game this summer in FIBA competition.
For Team USA, Anthony Edwards had 35 points and three steals while Jalen Brunson had 14 points and seven assists. Mikal Bridges had 14 points and Brandon Ingram had 10 points off the bench.
For Lithuania, Vaidas Kariniauskas had 15 points and five rebounds while Mindaugas Kuzminskas had 14 points and two rebounds. Jonas Valančiūnas had 12 points and Ignas Brazdeikis had 11 points.
From the beginning, it seemed that Team USA was in trouble as Lithuania seemingly could not miss from anywhere on the floor, especially from three-point land. The United States began their comeback bid in the third quarter as they started to intensify their defense along with Lithuania’s shooting regressing to the mean. In the end, it seems that Lithuania had too much size for the Americans and also had a good enough performance shooting the ball to lose the game.
For the purposes of Nets Wire, Brooklyn Nets wings Bridges and Cam Johnson did their best to help Team USA bring this game home. In addition to Bridges’ 14 points, he also had three rebounds and two blocks in a solid, all-around performance. Johnson had three points and one assist in 11 minutes of action.
Mikal making moves.
13-2 run to start the half & it’s a 6-point game.
📺 ESPN2/ESPN+
🇺🇸 #USABMNT #WinForUSA pic.twitter.com/bX1laiV5DD— USA Basketball (@usabasketball) September 3, 2023
End Q3 | 🇱🇹 69 🇺🇸 65@theantedwards_ 20 PTS 2 STL@mikal_bridges 11 PTS 2 BLK
📺 ESPN2/ESPN+#USABMNT #WinForUSA pic.twitter.com/MtdbRGbdpB
— USA Basketball (@usabasketball) September 3, 2023
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