The Philippine Online Chronicles

In the semifinal round of the 2010 FIBA World Championship, the United States banked on the monster performance of Kevin Durant to advance into the finals, routing Lithuania. With the win, the Americans will have a chance to finish first in the tournament, which they last won back in 1994. In the next game, point guard Kerem Tunceri scored on a last-second layup to help Turkey beat Serbia. The Turks will now be facing the Americans in the finals.

Durant leads USA over Lithuania

Reigning NBA Scoring Champion Kevin Durant erupted for 38 points, helping the United States beat a determined Lithuanian squad, 89-74.

The Americans will be playing in the finals of the tournament for the first time in 16 years when the likes of Reggie Miller, Shaquille O’Neal, and Mark Price represented USA.

Durant’s 38 points is the highest score by an American in the FIBA World Championship, eclipsing what Carmelo Anthony set back in 2006 at 35.

Aside from Durant, the Americans got a lot of contribution from Lamar Odom, who registered a double-double by scoring 13 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Russel Westbrook added 12 while Andre Iguodala chipped in nine points.

For Lithuania, San Antonio Spurs 2001 draft pick Robertas Javtokas led his team by notching 15 points and nine rebounds. Martynas Pocius also added 13 points and seven rebounds, while Mantas Kalnietis and Jonas Maciulis added 10 and nine, respectively.

In the first quarter, Kleiza put the Lithuanians on top by hitting a mid-range jumper with 5:23 left, the last field goal that Lithuania made as the Americans went on a 12-0 scoring binge. At the end of the first quarter, the Americans were already on top, 21-11.

At the start of the second quarter, Westbrook, Durant, and Odom started a 6-0 run that gave the Americans a 29-14 lead. Meanwhile, Lithuania tried to stop the bleeding for a while when Pocius hit a three-pointer and Kleiza made two free throws to cut the lead down to 10. However, the Americans started reestablishing their superiority at both ends of the court and at the end of 20 minutes, they were already ahead by 15 points.

In the third quarter, Maciulis and Kalnietis made two triples to cut the lead down to 10, 50-40.

Once again, the US turned away any semblance of resurgence by Lithuania by putting up nine unanswered points, giving them their biggest margin.

Durant nailed a three-ball, which was followed by a Rudy Gay slam dunk. Kevin Love capped the run by making two free throws.

Not wanting to go down without a fight, Tomas Delininkaitis made eight straight points to make it 61-51. The Americans answered back courtesy of Westbrook and Love to make it 65-53 entering the payoff period.

The fourth quarter was no different from the third--the Americans quashed every rally that the Lithuanians tried to do. With less than five minutes remaining, Durant hit another three-pointer while Westbrook and Stephen Curry put the final nail in the coffin to seal the deal.

After the game, US coach Mike Krzyzewski praised how hard the Lithuanians played all game long. He also mentioned that he felt honored that his team was able to beat an excellent squad in Lithuania.

Meanwhile, Lithuania’s coach Kestutis Kemzura praised Durant’s game while congratulating the entire US squad.

Tunceri’s layup lifts Turkey past Serbia

With just a couple of seconds left, point guard Kerem Tunceri threw an awkward-looking layup to help Turkey repulse Serbia, 83-82.

Tunkeri’s layup was more than enough to help his team reach the FIBA World Championship finals for the first time. With the win, Turkey who happens to be the host of the tournament, will be facing a young and talented USA squad for the gold medal.

With 4.3 seconds remaining, Serbia was holding on to a slim 82-81 lead. With Turkey making the inbound, they got the ball into the hands of their best player Hedo Turkoglu.

Turkoglu was on the verge of losing the handle when all of a sudden, Tunceri came out of nowhere to gain possession, giving him a wide-open look for a layup.

Thousands of pro-Turkey supporters cheered when Tunceri made the biggest basket of his career.

Serbia still had a chance to win it with 0.5 seconds remaining. However, the lob pass to center Novica Velickovic was deflected as the time ran out.

With the loss, the disappointed Serbians will be facing Lithuania for the bronze medal game tomorrow.

Aside from Tunceri who scored 12 points, Turkey got a lot of contributions from its main players. Turkoglu led the team with 16 points, while Omer Onan and Ender Arslan added 14 and 12, respectively.

For Serbia, Marko Keselj had a superb performance by scoring 18 points and grabbing seven rebounds. Dusko Savanovic and Nenad Krstic chipped in 15, while prolific point guard Milos Teodosic added 13 points on top of 11 assists.

Turkey’s Tunceri was simply a man on a mission. With less than four minutes to go and Turkey down by four, he scored five straight points to put his team on top.

Onan then made two free throws to put the hosts on top by three points. However, Serbia’s Dusko Savanovic converted two more free throws to slice the deficit to one.

Teodosic gave big man Omer Asik a hard foul and because of that, he was taken out of the game. Arslan subbed in and he made two free throws that should have been given to Asik.

In the final minute with Turkey up by only two points, NBA veteran Krstic split a pair of free throws. However, Keselj was there to get the rebound and was fouled during the sequence. Keselj sank both free throws to make it 80-79.

Tunceri then raced to the other end and shoveled a pass to a waiting Semih Erden who went for a slam dunk, giving the lead back to Turkey.

The big man missed a free throw, however, giving Aleksandar Rasic a chance to pass it to Novica Velickovic who ran down the court for a layup to put the Serbians back on top, 82-81 with 4.8 seconds remaining.

Tunceri then took command of the situation and made the improbable layup that sealed the deal for the Turks.