Lithuania stuns USA Basketball at FIBA World Cup: 'They just punched us in the mouth'

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Team USA men’s basketball suffered a stunning loss to Lithuania on Sunday but was able to make the FIBA World Cup quarterfinals after they finished in second place in its group.

Lithuania used nine straight three-pointers to start the game to propel them to a 110-104 victory. Vaidas Kariniauskas led Lithuania with 15 points. Mindaugas Kuzminskas added 14 points. Tadas Sedekerskis finished with a double-double – 11 points and 11 rebounds.

"That was a great basketball game," U.S. coach Steve Kerr said, via Basket News. "Lithuania obviously just came out of the gates on fire. I think they made their first nine threes. I love how our guys fought back, competed like crazy, and gave a really good run."

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U.S. head coach Steve Kerr calls a play for his team as they player against Lithuania during the first half of a Basketball World Cup second-round match in Manila, Philippines Sunday, September 3, 2023. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Lithuania dropped 31 points on the U.S. in the first quarter. The Americans only scored 12.

"They just punched us in the mouth," Kerr said of the first quarter. "They made every shot. They executed it. I don't think it was a case of us not being ready, but them playing perfect first quarter and us understanding how hard we'll have to play to accomplish our goal."

The loss doesn’t hurt the U.S. in terms of its goal to win a gold medal. The Americans will play Italy in the first game of the knockout round. The winner of that game will play the winner of Germany and Latvia.

"We'll get to play again," Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards said. "That's all I'm