The USA qualified for the Paris Olympics on Sunday, but Lithuania made sure that was the only good development of the night for the Americans as it pulled off a Basketball World Cup stunner.
Vaidas Kariniauskas scored 15 points, Mindaugas Kuzminskas added 14 and Lithuania beat the USA 110-104 in a second-round game at the World Cup.
The loss – the first for the US in 10 games this summer, counting five exhibitions on the way to the World Cup – came on a night when the Americans officially clinched a berth in the Paris Games.
And the loss won’t necessarily hurt them in the World Cup medal chase, either. The USA will play a quarterfinal game on Tuesday, when the knockout stage for the final eight teams begins. Win Tuesday, win Thursday and win next Sunday, and the Americans are gold medalists.
But it was a still a shocker, especially for a USA team that was the overwhelming favorite to win the gold.
Anthony Edwards led the USA with 35 points, his high of the summer, while Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges each added 14.
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