By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Anton Ponkrashov was Russia’s nice surprise (77-74), at the end of the game against Spain, when Pau Gasol lost a decisive free throw and Mark Gasol lost the ball (his teammates left him start the last offense).
Now the Russians are the favorites to end up first, at their Group and they need to beat Australia, to stay there. Meanwhile, Spain will play against USA, at the semifinals, if they win over Brazil and then beat Argentina, in quarters. If they loose to Brazil, they will only meet USA, at the Final, if they survive all the other opponents. And Marca.es wrote all about this great question.
Anyway, Russia came back from 2-20 and 11-28 to reach 56-51 and spoil Spain’s party. Because of Fridzon, Ponkrashov and Khryapa they got to 75-73, at 5.3” to the end, when Pau Gasol lost a FT, Mozgov gave to the fans a slam dunk and at the last possession, Mark Gasol lost the ball.
Lithuania got all the respect after making Team USA’s life difficult. The Americans won (99-94), but Linas Kleiza’s team (his is the captain) proved the Americans can be beaten. At the third quarter, Lithuania got the lead (the last time was at 36′, with 84-82), when LeBron James took over. With 9 straight points he showed to his friends the road to success and with Chris Paul’s big help… they walked it! Now, Team USA is leading the group and Lithuania must beat Tunisia, to qualify as 4th.
The day started with France’s 73-69 to Tusinia and thanks to this result, they qualified in quarters.