U.S. basketballers thump Lithuania

U.S. basketballers thump Lithuania

Kobe Bryant harassed longtime nemesis Sarunas Jasikevicius into a miserable night and helped the U.S. Olympic basketball team roll to a 120-84 exhibition victory over Lithuania on Friday night in Macau.

Dwyane Wade scored 19 points, Dwight Howard had 17 and LeBron James 15 for the Americans, who raced to a big early lead, then pulled away again after Lithuania got within single digits early in the second half. Bryant finished with 13 points, nine during the big U.S. first quarter.

The Americans, who shot 64 per cent, swept two games here and leave Saturday for Shanghai, where they will play European champion Russia and Australia.

Michael Redd finished with 16 points and Carmelo Anthony added 11 in a rematch of the bronze-medal game from four years ago.

Jasikevicius was just 2-of-8 from the field for nine points, with three turnovers. Rimantas Kaukenas led Lithuania with 17 points.

The United States needed a quarter to warm up in its first two games, but was sharp right from the start this time. Howard had three consecutive baskets, James dunked twice, and the Americans were already up by double digits barely 2½ minutes into the game. Minutes later, Bryant had two jumpers and a three-pointer in a quick flurry that made it 24-5.

Howard had 10 points and Bryant nine in the first 10 minutes, with the Americans opening a 31-15 lead.

Lithuania kept the deficit in the teens from there, then opened the second half with a flurry of three-pointers to make it a game. Jasikevicius had a rare open look and hit the final one to cut the U.S. lead to 61-52 with 7:10 remaining in the third quarter, but the Americans immediately blew it open again.

Anthony, Howard and James combined for the next 12 U.S. points, everything coming from inside, to make it 73-55, and Lithuania was never close again. Wade took over at the end of the period and early in the fourth, bringing the fans to their feet with a double-pump dunk on an alley-oop pass from Chris Paul.

Wade was 7-of-9 from the floor and Paul had seven assists. Every U.S. player scored.

The teams split two meetings in the 2004 Olympics, with the United States winning the second one to claim the bronze medal. Jasikevicius scored 28 points, hitting seven three-pointers, in Lithuania's 94-90 victory in pool play.

He nearly led Lithuania to a stunning victory four years earlier in Sydney, missing a three-pointer in the closing seconds of a semifinal game as the Americans held on for an 85-83 win.

Taking the challenge of defending the opponents' best player, as he frequently did last summer in the Olympic qualifier, Bryant never gave Jasikevicius a chance to get going. The former Indiana and Golden State point guard found little room to dribble or shoot when Bryant was near him.

He missed both shots and had a turnover in the first quarter and was still frustrated long after Bryant had checked out for good, screaming at the referee after throwing up an air ball on a three with about 4½ minutes left.

Lithuania plays Turkey here Saturday and opens the Olympics against defending gold medallist Argentina on Aug. 10.