Lithuania Holds Off Brazil’s Late Charge To Win 82-76
Lithuania looked to be on their way to a decisive victory after building a 30-point lead in the 3rd quarter, but Brazil made a huge run in the 4th to cut that lead all the way down to 4 points with less than 2 minutes remaining. Lithuanian rookie Damontis Sabonis of the Oklahoma City Thunder answered with a strong reverse layup and the foul to push their lead back up to 7 and end the Brazilian’s 4th quarter comeback hopes. Sabonis scored 10 points in the game Jonas Valanciunas of the Toronto Raptors pitched in 8 points and 5 rebounds as well.
Leandro Barbosa of the Phoenix Suns led the way for Brazil with 21 points, while Nene of the Houston Rockets and Raul Neto of the Utah Jazz combined for 25 points in Brazil’s impressive comeback effort. Barbosa had chance to make it a 2-point game late but missed an open baseline jumper before Sabonis pushed the lead to 7 and sealed a Lithuanian victory.
Croatia Stage Late Comeback To Stun Spain 72-70
Spain seemed to be headed to a comfortable win, leading Croatia 50-36 late in the third quarter before Croatia, led by the Brooklyn Nets’ Bojan Bogdanovic with 23 points started chipping away at the lead. The Hrvatska took a 57-56 lead with 5:40 remaining in the game but Philadelphia 76ers’ point guard Sergio Rodriguez with a 3-pointer to help Spain regain the lead. The teams went back and forth, with the Spurs’ Pau Gasol leading the way for ‘La Roja’ with 26 points and 9 rebounds.
Nikola Mirortic of the Bulls brought Spain back to within a point with a huge three to make it 71-70 with 12 seconds remaining, followed by Dario Saric making 1 of 2 free throws to make it 72-70. He then showed a glimpse of the potential that has 76ers fans so excited about his impending arrival when he blocked Pau Gasol’s potential game-tying layup to preserve the win in the final seconds. Saric finished with 5 points, 5 assists, 7 rebounds and Croatia pulled off the huge upset.
Argentina Cruise Past Nigeria 94-66
The Argentina team made a statement in their first game in Rio, thoroughly beating Nigeria 94-66. Luis Scola of the Brooklyn Nets had 18 points and 9 rebounds, Manu Ginobili had 12, while newly signed fellow San Antonio Spur Patricio Garino added 15.
Argentina was in total control from the start, jumping out to a 13-2 start and never relinquishing the lead from there. Pistons second-round pick Michael Gbinije had the play of the game with a thunderous dunk but it was not enough to keep Nigeria in the game. Argentina led 50-31 at halftime, and 72-50 after the third-quarter on way to an easy win as Ginobili and Scola hope to recreate their 2004 gold-medal run with a new core of players around them.
