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Thursday, September 21
U.S. came close to losing first game
Associated Press
SYDNEY, Australia -- What once seemed impossible nearly
happened.
In what was by far the closest game a U.S. men's Olympic
basketball team has played using NBA players, the Americans led by
only five points in the final minute and could have had their lead
cut to three before they hung on to defeat Lithuania 85-76
Thursday.
|  | | Kevin Garnett might be looming large over Lithuania's Tomas Masiulis here, but the Lithuanians weren't in awe of the Americans and showed it all throughout the game. |
"If it was going to happen, it would have been tonight,"
Lithuania assistant coach Donn Nelson said. "The stars were all
lined up tonight. We had it right where we wanted it."
In Barcelona, no team came within 32 points of them; in Atlanta,
no one got closer than 22. On this day, the mighty Americans
actually could have lost.
It was that close.
Lithuania had a chance to close to three points with 1:09 left, but the moment must have been too much for 27-year-old
Eurelijus Zukauskas to handle. The 7-foot-2 center went to the foul
line and missed twice.
"I lost, and that's it. I missed them," he said.
Vince Carter, who scored six of the U.S. team's final eight
points, followed Zukauskas's misses by hitting a high-arching layup
over the outstretched arms of two defenders for an 83-76 lead.
"Don't ask me how I made that, it surprised me," Carter said.
"A prayer -- it was answered."
Sarunas Jasikevicius then missed a shot at the other end for
Lithuania, and with that the chances of a monumental upset -- it
would have been one of the biggest ones in the history of sports,
not just the Olympics -- were over.
Instead, Lithuania will have to settle for being the first team
ever to hold a second-half lead against one of the so-called
"Dream Teams."
That historical moment came just less than 18 minutes remaining. The
U.S. team then got an earful from their coach and built a decent
lead, but it wasn't enough to forestall one last push from a
Lithuania team that didn't have either of its two NBA players -- Arvydas Sabonis and Zydrunas Ilgauskas -- and didn't have two of its
best players from the past two Olympics -- Arturas Karnishovas and
Sarunas Marciulionis.
"Guys were upset and disappointed with the way we played,"
Shareef Abdur-Rahim said.
"I feel relieved," Antonio McDyess said. "It wasn't our
night."
This Lithuania team didn't even have the tie-dyed warmup suits
that were so fashionable four and eight years ago. What they did
have was plenty of heart and the one ingredient all the Americans'
opponents have brought to Sydney -- a lack of awe.
The also caught a U.S. team that -- unlike it did in its first
two games -- never went for the kill.
Maybe it was the fatigue of being on the road for nearly a
month. Maybe their minds were on the Patrick Ewing trade back in
the States.
"We didn't play with energy. We didn't play like we were having
a good time," Alonzo Mourning said. "But we knew we were going to
win that game no matter what the margin was."
The Americans found themselves trailing when a layup by
Siskauskas with just less than 18 minutes remaining completed a 17-2
run and gave Lithuania a 50-49 lead.
Coach Rudy Tomjanovich leapt from his feet and signaled
emphatically toward the scorer's table for a timeout, then changed
his mind and canceled it right before Kevin Garnett hit a jumper.
The timeout then was taken, and whatever Tomjanovich said to his
team in the next minute was exactly what they needed to hear.
A defensive trap near midcourt led to a steal and jumper by Ray
Allen, Gary Payton hit two foul shots and a fastbreak layup and
Mourning scored on a drive to make it 59-51. The lead reached 10
points with 10 minutes remaining as Lithuania was in the midst of
missing four consecutive free throws.
But then the Americans couldn't finish.
Previously, the closest one of the so-called "Dream Teams" had
come to trailing in the second half was a one-point lead over
Yugoslavia with 14 minutes left in the 1996 gold medal game in
Atlanta.
The 1992 team never had anything even remotely resembling a
close call, and never even called a timeout.
Now, another barrier has fallen. And somewhere in the other
Olympic bracket, some medal contender -- whether it's Yugoslavia,
Canada or Russia -- must be newly emboldened.
Payton, part of a starting lineup that included Mourning,
Carter, Garnett and Jason Kidd, hit a 3-pointer to start the game.
The U.S. team scored nine of their first 11 points on 3-pointers
and steadily built a 47-33 lead.
But Lithuania scored the final eight points of the first half to
keep the game from being out of reach, then kept up the pace to
start the second half as Jasikevicius hit a 3-pointer and Darius
Songaila made a layup to cut Lithuania's deficit to 47-46.
Mourning scored from the corner before Songaila and Siskauskas
made consecutive layups that put the Americans behind.
Payton led the U.S. team with 14 points, and Carter scored 12.
The Americans shot just 36 percent from the field.
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U.S.-Lithuania box score
Second-half run pushes U.S. men past Italy
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