MADRID, 5 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The teams of the United States and Serbia have become the first classified for the semifinals of the Basketball World Cup, which is being held in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia, after beating Italy (100-63) and Lithuania (68-8) without problems. -87), respectively.
Both teams came to this quarterfinal match as second in the group. However, on the track they have shown that the ‘punctures’, against Lithuania by the Americans and against Italy by the Balkans, were nothing more than an anecdote in their tournaments, now prevailing in the quarterfinals without hassle against their rivals.
Steve Kerr’s team began by setting the pace of the game against the Italians, defending well and playing the way they like best: at great speed and with very fast defense-attack transitions. Thus, they dismasted the much less physical transalpine team, unable to withstand the onslaught of the Americans. At the end of the first quarter, the Olympic champions were already leading by 10 points (24-14).
In the second, Italy made the threat of getting closer, thanks to a great Simone Fontecchio, the best of his team with 18 points. But it was not enough and at halftime the income had increased and already exceeded 20 points, leaving the game sentenced.
After passing through the changing rooms, the script was similar, with an Italian team unable to stop the attacks of a ‘Yankee’ team that continued to widen the gap to almost 40 points, led by a great Mikal Bridges, the best of the match with 24 points and 7 rebounds. Now they are waiting for a rival, who will leave Germany-Latvia this Wednesday.
SERBIA CLOSES TO THE GAMES CRUSHING LITHUANIA
The Balkan team has set a foot and a half in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, to which the two best European teams in the tournament have access, by crushing Lithuania by a difference of almost 20 points. In the event that Canada manages to beat Slovenia, Pesic’s men will be Olympic; If not, they would have two chances: against Luka Doncic’s men, and in third and fourth place.
The game against a riled-up Lithuania started as expected, with a very high intensity and frenetic pace with which the Lithuanians feel comfortable. And they took advantage of that brilliant start to, supported by Rokas Jokubaitis, who repeatedly found Jonas Valanciunas in the paint, put their team ahead (25-24) at the end of the first 10 minutes.
The second set had nothing to do with it, Serbia fully entered the game, with a great Bogdan Bogdanovic. The Atlanta Hawks point guard carried the team on his back, setting the pace of the game, to start a Balkan improvement in which Nikola Milutinov also had a lot to do. He scored all of his points (9) in this quarter, decisive in defense and attack. Thus, Serbia went to the locker room with an advantage 38 to 49.
After the break, Serbia continued to control the game, with increasing defensive intensity, clogging the circulation of the Lithuanian ball and ceding the handle of the attack to an excellent Bogdanovic, top scorer of the game with 21 points. The advantage of 18 with which the Serbs entered the final 10 minutes grew to 68-87 with which the match ended. Svetislav Pesic’s men await a rival in the semifinals, which will come out of Canada-Slovenia.