2010 FIBA World Championship knockout stage

The knockout stage of the 2010 FIBA World Championship commenced play on 4 September 2010. The teams that finished fourth or higher at their respective preliminary round groups qualify for the knockout stage; the knockout stage is a modified single-elimination tournament, with a third–place game for the losers of the semifinals. The teams played all of their games at Sinan Erdem Dome, Istanbul, Turkey.

Eliminated teams at the quarterfinals played for fifth to eighth places, the loser of the first round play for seventh place, while the winners play for fifth place.

In order to give each contest more ticket sales, more TV coverage and more media coverage, the Local Organizing Committee proposed the measure to

Bracket

All times are local (

UTC+3

).

Championship Bracket

Round of 16

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

4 September 2010

Serbia

73

8 September 2010

Croatia

72

Serbia

92

4 September 2010

Spain

89

Spain

80

11 September 2010

Greece

72

Serbia

82

5 September 2010

Turkey

83

Turkey

95

8 September 2010

France

77

Turkey

95

5 September 2010

Slovenia

68

Slovenia

87

12 September 2010

Australia

58

Turkey

64

6 September 2010

United States

81

United States

121

9 September 2010

Angola

66

United States

89

6 September 2010

Russia

79

Russia

78

11 September 2010

New Zealand

56

United States

89

7 September 2010

Lithuania

74

Third place

Lithuania

78

9 September 2010

12 September 2010

China

67

Lithuania

104

Serbia

88

7 September 2010

Argentina

85

Lithuania

99

Argentina

93

Brazil

89

Consolation Bracket

	Classification round				Fifth place
	10 September 2010
	Spain	97
					12 September 2010
	Slovenia	80
					Spain	81
	10 September 2010
					Argentina	86
	Russia	61
	Argentina	73
					Seventh place
					11 September 2010
					Slovenia	78
					Russia	83

Eighth–finals

Serbia vs. Croatia

The first eighth-final round match-up pitted two former

Serbia freed Rašić with a screen on the ensuing inbounds pass and he made an uncontested layup with nine seconds left.[3] Popović was then fouled with 5.9 seconds left, and hit both free throws to tie the game at 72. Serbia inbounded the ball to Rašić, who drove downcourt and was fouled by Croatia's Davor Kus while attempting an off-balance shot with one second left. Rašić made the first and missed the second free throw to give Serbia a one-point victory. Rašić ended up with 15 points, including eight in the fourth quarter and five in the final 21 seconds. Croatia's Popović led all scorers with 21 points to go along with five rebounds and five assists. The Oklahoma City Thunder's Nenad Krstić scored a team-high 16 points for Serbia.

4 September 18:00

Report

Serbia	73–72	Croatia
Scoring by quarter: 19–27, 15–9, 20–14, 19–22
Pts: Krstić 16 Rebs: Tepić 7 Asts: Tepić 4		Pts: Popović 5

Sinan Erdem Dome, Istanbul Attendance: 15,000 Referees: Cristiano Jesus Maranho (BRA), Anthony Dewayne Jordan (USA), Scott Jason Butler (AUS)

Spain vs. Greece

The second game of the knockout phase was a rematch of the

With the victory, Spain had eliminated Greece in the knockout stage of each of the previous two

4 September 21:00

Report

Spain	80–72	Greece
Scoring by quarter: 22–19, 15–12, 15–20, 28–21
Pts: Navarro 22 Rebs: Reyes 10 Asts: Rubio 6		Pts: Zisis, Diamantidis 16 Rebs: Fotsis 7 Asts: Spanoulis 3

Sinan Erdem Dome, Istanbul Attendance: 15,000 Referees: Jose Anibal Carrion (PUR), William Gene Kennedy (USA), Reynaldo Antonio Mercedes Sanchez (DOM)

Slovenia vs. Australia

In the third game of the knockout round, Slovenia cruised over Australia in an 87–58 victory. Australia stumbled out of the gate, falling behind 12–0, and never mounted a challenge against the Group B runner-up Slovenes.[7] By halftime, Australia had nine turnovers while only making six field goals on 22% field goal shooting as Slovenia opened up a 21-point halftime lead.^[8] The Aussies were not much better in the second half, finishing 18 of 58 (31 percent) from the field and 2 of 19 from the three-point line. Slovenia, meanwhile, shot 16 of 33 from three-point range, led by Jaka Lakovič's 19 points on 5-of-11 three-point shooting. Goran Dragić added 10 points and 8 assists and all twelve Slovenian players scored as they rolled into the quarterfinal round.

With the victory, Slovenia reached the Quarterfinals in the

5 September 18:00

Report

Slovenia	87–58	Australia
Scoring by quarter: 16–8, 26–13, 29–24, 16–13
Pts: Lakovič 19 Rebs: Rizvić 5 Asts: Dragić 8		Pts: Mills 3

Sinan Erdem Dome, Istanbul Attendance: 15,000 Referees: Romualdas Brazauskas (LTU), Stephen Seibel (CAN), Juan Jose Fernandez (ARG)

Turkey vs. France

Host Turkey prevailed in the day's second big blowout, beating France 95–77. Like Slovenia before them, Turkey never trailed in becoming the fourth consecutive higher-seeded team to advance to the quarterfinals. The Turks used a 21–4 run during the second and third quarters to open up a 15-point halftime lead and a 26-point third quarter lead en route to the 18-point victory.

was France's most consistent player in the loss, leading the team in points (21), rebounds (5), and assists (4).

France was eliminated after losing its third consecutive game, while undefeated hosts Turkey advanced to the quarterfinals for the second straight World championship.

5 September 21:00

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Turkey	95–77	France
Scoring by quarter: 19–14, 24–14, 28–17, 24–32
Pts: Türkoğlu 21 Rebs: İlyasova, Aşık 5 Asts: Güler, Tunçeri, Türkoğlu 3		Pts: Diaw 21 Rebs: Diaw 5 Asts: Diaw, Piétrus 4

Sinan Erdem Dome, Istanbul Attendance: 15,000 Referees: Pablo Alberto Estevez (ARG), Jorge Vazquez (PUR), Luigi Lamonica (ITA)

USA vs. Angola

The unbeaten US team cruised to the biggest blowout of the tournament so far, beating African champions Angola 121–66.

Unbeaten United States assured themselves a top eight finish for the 16th consecutive World Championship, while Angola failed to qualify for the quarterfinals for the second straight tournament. Despite the loss, Angola became the first African team to qualify for the knockout stage of back-to-back tournaments.

September 6 18:00

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United States	121–66	Angola
Scoring by quarter: 33–13, 32–25, 26–18, 30–10
Pts: Billups 19 Rebs: Odom 8 Asts: Rose, Westbrook 6		Pts: Morais 4

Sinan Erdem Dome, Istanbul Attendance: 15,000 Referees: Milivoje Jovcic (SRB), Borys Ryzhyk (UKR), Samir Abaakil (MAR)

Russia vs. New Zealand

Russia provided the fourth blowout in a row by beating New Zealand 78–56. The "Tall Blacks" jumped out to an early 9–2 lead in the first quarter and ended the first quarter with a two-point advantage.

Russia became the fifth European team to reach the quarterfinals and the sixth straight higher seeded team to advance. With New Zealand's loss, both Oceania teams were knocked out in the eighth finals for the second consecutive World Championship.

6 September 21:00

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Russia	78–56	New Zealand
Scoring by quarter: 13–15, 18–12, 20–13, 27–16
Pts: Vorontsevich 18 Rebs: Vorontsevich 11 Asts: Ponkrashov 7		Pts: Penney 21 Rebs: Vukona 5 Asts: Penney, Vukona, Frank 2

Sinan Erdem Dome, Istanbul Attendance: 15,000 Referees: Sasa Pukl (SLO), David Chambon (FRA), Marcos Fornies Benito (BRA)

Lithuania vs. China

Group D winner Lithuania continued the European dominance at this World Championship by beating China 78–67 to become the sixth European team in the quarterfinals. China got off to a good start and led 16–5 early on and by five points after the first quarter. Lithuania came back to outscore China by eight in the second quarter to take a three-point lead at halftime.^[16] In the third quarter, Lithuania locked down the Chinese offense by just allowing eleven points to stretch their lead to 13. China attempted to make it a close game in the fourth quarter, cutting the lead down to six before Lithuania's Linas Kleiza scored ten unanswered points to put the game away. Kleiza was the player of the match for Lithuania, scoring 30 points and also grabbing 9 rebounds. Liu Wei scored 21 points for the Chinese team, while team scoring leader Yi Jianlian scored 11 points and pulled down 12 rebounds.^[17]

China failed to reach the quarterfinals for the third straight year, although they were knocked the last

7 September 18:00

Report

Lithuania	78–67	China
Scoring by quarter: 17–22, 26–18, 21–11, 14–16
Pts: Kleiza 30 Rebs: Kleiza 9 Asts: Kalnietis 5		Pts: Liu W. 21 Rebs: Yi J.L. 12 Asts: Liu W., Wang Z.Z., Wang S.P. 3

Sinan Erdem Dome, Istanbul Attendance: 15,000 Referees: Christos Christodoulou (GRE), Recep Ankarali (TUR), Yuji Hirahara (JPN)

Argentina vs. Brazil

The last eighth final match featured a South American rivalry between Argentina and Brazil. The game quickly turned into a run and gun spectacle in which no team had a bigger lead than four. The game was tied at 25–25 after the back-and-forth first quarter.^[18] Brazil took a narrow 48–46 lead into the halftime break. The third quarter was the lowest scoring quarter, as Argentina made a small comeback to tie the game. The fourth quarter was all about offense again with Leandro Barbosa and Hernán Jasen hitting threes after each other. In the end, Luis Scola made the difference with his stellar performance of 37 points and 9 rebounds. The 37 points tied Kirk Penney's tournament high in points.^[19] Marcelo Huertas gave the Brazilian team a lift by scoring 34 points. Barbosa added 20 points of his own, as did Carlos Delfino of Argentina. In the shootout, Argentina shot 57.9% from the field, including 61.1% (11/18) from three-point range, while Brazil shot 53.7% and hit half of their shots from behind the arc (12/24).

With the win, Argentina is assured of finishing in the first eight places for the fourth consecutive time, while one-time powerhouse Brazil failed to medal for the eighth straight World Championship.

7 September 21:00

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Argentina	93–89	Brazil
Scoring by quarter: 25–25, 21–23, 20–18, 27–23
Pts: Scola 37 Rebs: Scola 9 Asts: Prigioni 8		Pts: Huertas 34 Rebs: Splitter, Varejão 5 Asts: Splitter, Barbosa, Huertas, Garcia 2

Sinan Erdem Dome, Istanbul Attendance: 15,000 Referees: Carl Jungebrand (FIN), Juan Artega (ESP), Ilija Belosevic (SRB)

Quarter–finals

Serbia vs. Spain

Serbia avenged their EuroBasket 2009 gold medal game loss in the first quarterfinal against Spain in a tight 92–89 victory. Both teams got off to a hot start in the early going, before Serbia went on a quick 10–0 run after Spain's Jorge Garbajosa had tied the game at 13 with a three-pointer at 13. Serbia got a great start from Nemanja Bjelica and Novica Veličković, who scored a combined 21 points in the first quarter. Despite this, Spain came back to cut the lead to just four at the first quarter break. Serbia stretched their lead in the second quarter and went into halftime with an eight-point advantage.^[20]

In the third quarter, Spain outscored the Serbian team by five to make it a three-point game heading into the fourth quarter. The fourth quarter was a back-and forth affair in which both teams went onto runs before it came down to the last seconds. Serbia found themselves up by eight points at several points in the quarter, but could not put the Spaniards away. Serbia was holding onto a slim 89–84 lead with a bit over one minute left before Juan Carlos Navarro made a three-pointer before dishing to Marc Gasol on the next possession as Spain tied the game at 89 with 25.8 seconds left in the game. On its final possession, Serbia ran the clock down until five seconds left when Miloš Teodosić took advantage of Spain's defense to make a long three-pointer with just 3.1 seconds left.^[21] Spain took a timeout to advance the ball to midcourt, but Garbajosa fumbled the inbound pass and Veličković jumped on the ball to seal the victory. Serbia displayed great team play with having six players in double-figures and recording 18 assists while hitting half of their shots from three-point range (15/30). Navarro's 27 points were not enough for Spain in the losing effort. Ricky Rubio ran into foul trouble in the fourth quarter and was held to a tournament-low three assists by Serbia.

8 September 18:00

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Serbia	92–89	Spain
Scoring by quarter: 27–23, 22–18, 18–23, 25–25
Pts: Kešelj, Veličković 17 Rebs: Krstić 9 Asts: Teodosić 8		Pts: Navarro 27 Rebs: Garbajosa 6 Asts: Navarro 5

Sinan Erdem Dome, Istanbul Attendance: 15,000 Referees: Pablo Alberto Estevez (ARG), William Gene Kennedy(USA) Michael Aylen (AUS)

Turkey vs. Slovenia

Turkey won the second quarterfinal against Slovenia in a blowout fashion 95–68 in front of an electric home crowd. Slovenia came out strong early on, led by Boštjan Nachbar, who scored seven of the team's first ten points, to take a 10–6 lead. Turkey came back with a 20–5 run to take the lead 27–14 after the first quarter.^[22] From there, the game was never in doubt; Slovenia was never able to cut the lead to single digits at any point after the first quarter. In the second quarter, Turkey's bench gave them a lift by taking a 19-point lead at halftime. Turkey shot the ball well, hitting eight of eleven from three-point range in the first half. Turkey outscored Slovenia by nine in the third quarter to take a comfortable 71–43 lead into the last quarter. The last quarter was essentially a victory lap for the Turkish team, as the starters took places on the bench to give playing time to the second unit. Turkey ended the game hitting a tournament-high 71% of the field, 10 of 17 from behind the arc, and recording 24 assists. Slovenia meanwhile struggled offensively, shooting just 35.7% from the field.^[23] Ersan İlyasova scored 19 points to lead Turkey. Eleven of twelve Turkish players scored and Hedo Türkoğlu dished out with 7 assists. Sani Bečirovič and Nachbar both had 16 points for the Slovenian team.

With the victory, Turkey became the first host team to reach the final four since

's eighth final performance, reaching the quarterfinals in their second ever World Championship appearance.

8 September 21:00

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Turkey	95–68	Slovenia
Scoring by quarter: 27–14, 23–17, 21–12, 24–25
Pts: İlyasova 19 Rebs: İlyasova, Erden, Aşık 5 Asts: Türkoğlu 7		Pts: Bečirovič, Nachbar 16 Rebs: Brezec 5 Asts: Bečirovič 6

Sinan Erdem Dome, Istanbul Attendance: 15,000 Referees: Jose Anibal Carrion (PUR), Anthony Dewayne Jordan (USA), Cristiano Jesus Maranho (BRA)

USA vs. Russia

The United States and Russia reignited their rivalry in the quarterfinals on the thirty-eighth anniversary of the

Leading 50–45 in the third quarter, Russell Westbrook sparked the United States with seven points and three steals over a three-minute stretch in the third quarter to help the United States open up a 65–50 lead. The Americans dominated from there, leading by as many as 17 and never letting Russia back within single digits en route to the victory. Kevin Durant scored a game-high 33 points as the Americans moved two wins away from their first World Championship since 1994. Westbrook scored ten of his twelve points in the second half to spark the Americans, while Lamar Odom added 12 rebounds. Sergei Bykov scored a game-high 17 points for Russia, while Russian big men Vorontsevich, Mozgov, and Sergei Monia performed well, helping the Russians outrebound the Americans 45–38. Turnovers proved Russia's undoing, however, as the quick American team forced 18 turnovers, including 14 steals.

With the victory, the United States moves to the semifinals with a perfect 7–0 record for the second consecutive World Championship. Russia fell to the consolation bracket, although their quarterfinal appearance assured they would have their best result since finishing second at the 1998 FIBA World Championship.

9 September 18:00

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United States	89–79	Russia
Scoring by quarter: 25–25, 19–14, 26–17, 19–23
Pts: Durant 33 Rebs: Odom 12 Asts: Billups 5		Pts: Khvostov 5

Sinan Erdem Dome, Istanbul Attendance: 15,000 Referees: Reynaldo Antonio Mercedes Sanchez (DOM), José Martín (ESP), Jakob Zamojski (POL)

Lithuania vs. Argentina

Lithuania blew out Argentina in the last quarterfinal of the tournament 104–85. The game started even before Lithuania went on an 8–0 run to lead 17–10 midway through the first quarter. Argentina answered with a 5–0 run on their own but Lithuania closed out the quarter 11–3 to stretch the lead to ten. From there, the game was never really in doubt after Lithuania hit their first eight three-pointers and the lead grew to twenty (50–30) at halftime.^[25] The third quarter started with a quick 6–0 run for Lithuania to stretch the lead to 26 before Pablo Prigioni finally made the first three-pointer of the day for Argentina, after missing their first eleven, with 4:47 left in the third quarter. The lead was 32 after three quarters until a late run by Argentina brought the final deficit down to 19. All seven players that scored for Lithuania ended up in double-figures, led by Simas Jasaitis with 19. Linas Kleiza, the Lithuanians' high scorer for the tournament, scored 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Carlos Delfino was the leading scorer for Argentina with 25, while the overall tournament scoring leader Luis Scola struggled by hitting just five of his 13 shots for 13 points. Argentina made only four of their 21 tries from behind the arc, while Lithuania made half of their shots from three-point range (12 of 24).^[26]

Number-one ranked Argentina lost in the quarterfinals after reaching the semifinals at each of their last four major international tournaments (two Olympics and two World Championships). Unbeaten Lithuania qualified for the World Championship semifinals for the first time in their history, after finishing seventh in each of their first two appearances (1998 and 2006). All four group winners advanced to the semifinals for the second straight time under the new format that FIBA unveiled in 2006.

9 September 21:00

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Lithuania	104–85	Argentina
Scoring by quarter: 28–18, 22–12, 35–23, 19–32
Pts: Jasaitis 19 Rebs: Kleiza 9 Asts: Kalnietis, Jankūnas 5		Pts: Delfino 25 Rebs: Oberto, Jasen 5 Asts: Prigioni 6

Sinan Erdem Dome, Istanbul Attendance: 15,000 Referees: Jorge Vasquez (PUR), Guerrino Cerebuch (ITA), Scott Jason Butler (AUS)

Fifth–eighth classification

Spain vs. Slovenia

Defending world champions Spain overcame a sluggish start to beat Slovenia 97–80 in the first consolation round game. The pre-tournament favorites showed some signs of wear after their emotional quarterfinal loss to Serbia in the early going, missing eight of their first ten shots, as Slovenia opened up a seven-point first quarter lead. From there, Spain settled in and the lead changed hands several times over the next two quarters before Spain entered the fourth quarter leading 64–62. Sergio Llull hit his only two baskets of the game, both three-pointers, and Juan Carlos Navarro added two more threes as Spain blew the game open with a 15–6 late run. The Spaniards eventually won by seventeen in a game that was far closer than the final score line indicates.^[27] Navarro led Spain with 26 points, while Rudy Fernández and Fran Vázquez pitched in with 16 each. Jaka Lakovič and Goran Dragić paced Slovenia with 19 points each. With the victory, Spain kept its hopes alive for finishing in the top five in four consecutive World Championship tournaments.

10 September 18:00

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Spain	97–80	Slovenia
Scoring by quarter: 16–23, 22–18, 26–21, 33–18
Pts: Navarro 26 Rebs: Reyes 10 Asts: Navarro 7		Pts: Lakovič, Dragić 19 Rebs: Brezec 9 Asts: Lakovič 4

Sinan Erdem Dome, Istanbul Attendance: 15,000 Referees: Romualdas Brazauskas (LTU), Murat Biricik (TUR), Olegs Latisevs (LAT)

Russia vs. Argentina

The second consolation bracket game was all Luis Scola and Carlos Delfino as the Argentine duo combined for 53 of Argentina's 73 total points in a 73–61 victory over Russia. The game was a tight defensive struggle for most of the game before Argentina used a late fourth quarter run to pull away. Russia had gotten within two at 58–56 on Timofey Mozgov's bucket with 6:50 to play before Argentina outscored the Russians 17–5 the rest of the way.^[28] Only four players scored more than one basket for Argentina, with Fabricio Oberto adding 10 and Pablo Prigioni scoring 5. Mozgov scored 10 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to pace Russia, while Sergei Monia scored a team-high 17 points.

With the victory, Argentina advances to the fifth-place game versus Spain, in a rematch of the 2006 FIBA World Championship semifinal. Many predicted that this matchup – between world number one Argentina and defending champion Spain – could be for the final before the tournament. Russia will face Slovenia in the seventh place game.

10 September 21:00

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Russia	61–73	Argentina
Scoring by quarter: 11–15, 22–21, 19–18, 9–19
Pts: Monia 17 Rebs: Mozgov 11 Asts: Ponkrashov 4		Pts: Scola 27 Rebs: Delfino 7 Asts: Prigioni 5

Sinan Erdem Dome, Istanbul Attendance: 15,000 Referees: Anthony Dewayne Jordan (USA), Srdan Dozai (CRO), Eddie Viator (FRA)

Seventh–place game

Russia ended their World Championship campaign with a victory after beating Slovenia 83–78. Slovenia outplayed Russia in a sloppy first half that included only four total points in the first five minutes of the second quarter. Slovenia used a late 7–0 run to lead 37–30 at halftime. Slovenia opened up the second half with a quick run to lead by 14 midway through the third quarter before Russia trimmed the lead back down to seven at the end of the third quarter. Russia started the fourth quarter strong with a 12–0 run to take the lead 64–62 before Slovenia made two three-pointers to take back the lead. Vitaly Fridzon was the Russian hero of the day as he scored 15 of his 17 points in the final quarter. Slovenian star Boštjan Nachbar chipped in 11 of his game-high 20 points in the final six minutes, including a three-pointer that gave Slovenia a five-point 74–69 lead with 2:31 left. Russia answered with a 14–4 run in the last 2:15, led by Timofey Mozgov, who scored seven of his team-high 19 points in the final 82 seconds of the game.

After finished 12th at the last World Championships, Slovenia achieved the eighth place, the best finish in their short history, while Russia ended up in seventh place for its best finish since 1998.

11 September 15:00

Report

Slovenia	78–83	Russia
Scoring by quarter: 23–21, 14–9, 22–22, 19–31
Pts: Nachbar 20 Rebs: Slokar 7 Asts: Dragić 7		Pts: Mozgov 19 Rebs: Monia 7 Asts: Bykov 7

Sinan Erdem Dome, Istanbul Attendance: 15,000 Referees: Guerrino Cerebuch (ITA), Recep Anakrali (TUR), Fernando Rocha(POR)

Fifth–place game

Spain and Argentina met in the fifth place game in a match billed by the media as the "clash for crumbs" after both teams fell short of expectations as pre-tournament favorites.^[29] The majority of the game was surprisingly uncompetitive, as Argentina never trailed at any point in the game. After extending a 17-point halftime lead to 25 on Carlos Delfino's three-pointer with 6:45 left in the third quarter, Spain mounted a furious comeback. Rudy Fernández scored eleven points and Sergio Llull added seven more during a 28–6 run over the last 6:30 of the third quarter that trimmed Argentina's lead to 65–62 entering the final quarter. From there, the Spaniards could never get over the hump, as Argentina hung onto the narrow lead. After Marc Gasol hit one of two free throws to tie the game at 80 with 2:11 left – the first tie since it was 4–4 in the opening minutes – Luis Scola made a basket and Pablo Prigioni followed with a dagger three-pointer as the shot clock expired to give Argentina a commanding four-point lead with 15 seconds left.

Fernández led all scorers with 31 points in the losing effort. Argentine stars Delfino (27 points), Scola (22 points, 11 rebounds), and Prigioni (17 points, 7 assists) continued to pace Argentina. With his 22 points, Scola likely locked up the tournament's scoring title; only a monumental performance from the USA's Kevin Durant could top him. The Argentines sealed fifth place after finishing second and fourth in the last two World Championships while the Spaniards finished below fifth place for the first time since 1994.

12 September 15:00

Report

Spain	81–86	Argentina
Scoring by quarter: 16–23, 16–26, 30–16, 19–21
Pts: Fernández 31 Rebs: Gasol 10 Asts: San Emeterio, Fernández, Navarro, Llull 3 each		Pts: Delfino 27 Rebs: Scola 11 Asts: Prigioni 7

Sinan Erdem Dome, Istanbul Attendance: 15,000 Referees: Jose Anibal Carrion (PUR), Ilija Belosevic (SRB), Scott Jason Butler (AUS)

Semifinals

USA vs. Lithuania

The US team continued their unbeaten streak at the World Championship by beating Lithuania 89–74. In the first quarter, Lithuania held an early 11–9 lead before the US took the game over with 12 unanswered points, while holding Lithuania without a field goal over a six-minute stretch in the first and second quarters. Kevin Durant was the star early on as he outscored the entire Lithuanian team with 17 points in the first quarter. The Lithuanians finished the first quarter by missing their final eight shots after starting out shooting 5-for-8. The Americans led by eleven to start the second quarter and were able to grow the lead to 17 at halftime. Lithuania made an early push in the third period to cut the lead to ten before the USA answered with a 9–0 run to widen the lead to 19.^[30] Tomas Delininkaitis scored eight points in a row to bring his team back within 10, but the Lithuanians could not cut the lead to single digits. Late in the fourth quarter, Durant put the game away with his fifth three-pointer to give the USA an 84–67 lead en route to the fifteen-point victory.^[31]

Durant was the top scorer with a tournament-high 38 points, topping the all-time US record for most points in a game. Lamar Odom had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds to go along 3 blocked shots, while Andre Iguodala recorded four steals and held Lithuanian top scorer Linas Kleiza to just four points on 1 for 11 shooting, the only time all tournament that he was held in single digits.^[32] Robertas Javtokas led Lithuania with 15 points, and was the only Lithuanian scorer to shoot more than 50% on the afternoon.

Lithuania will play in the bronze medal game and have a chance to win a medal for the first time in their history, while the USA put themselves to win a record-setting fourth title that would be its first since the

11 September 19:00

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United States	89–74	Lithuania
Scoring by quarter: 23–12, 19–15, 23–26, 24–21
Pts: Durant 38 Rebs: Odom 10 Asts: Billups, Rose, Westbrook 3		Pts: Javtokas 15 Rebs: Javtokas 9 Asts: Kalnietis, Mačiulis, Pocius, Delininkaitis 2

Sinan Erdem Dome, Istanbul Attendance: 15,000 Referees: Carl Jungebrand (FIN), Sasa Pukl (SLO), Marcos Fornies Benito (BRA)

Serbia vs. Turkey

The second semifinal provided the most thrilling finish of the tournament as the hosts were able to keep their magical run alive with an 83–82 victory over Serbia. Serbia controlled the game for much of the first half, leading by three at the end of the first quarter before growing their lead to 7 in the second quarter to lead 42–35 at halftime. Turkey came out firing in the second half, scoring 25 in the third quarter to cut the lead to three before the fourth quarter. Turkey hung tight for most of the second half, never leading but never falling behind by double digits as Serbia could not separate themselves from the Turks. Serbian star Miloš Teodosić hit a three-pointer with 5:36 left to give Serbia a 72–64 lead to match their biggest lead of the game. Turkey came roaring back following Teodosić's three, going on a 14–3 run over the next two minutes. Kerem Tunçeri, who scored eight of Turkey's 14 points during the run, hit a three-pointer with 3:25 left gave Turkey its first lead since it was 4–3 early in the first quarter to set up the thrilling finish.^[33]

After both teams exchanged free throws over the next few minutes, Serbia got the lead back with 28 seconds left when Marko Kešelj hit two free throws. On the ensuing possession, Turkey's Semih Erden got a dunk and a foul with 16.8 seconds to go. He missed the free throw and Serbia had the chance to win it. Novica Veličković hit a shot with four seconds left to give Serbia an 82–81 lead and set up a frantic finish. After a timeout, Turkey inbounded the ball to Hedo Türkoğlu near midcourt; Türkoğlu mishandled the ball but it fell right to Tunçeri who drove along the baseline for an uncontested layup as the buzzer sounded, sending the home crowd into a frenzy. An official review put 0.5 seconds back on the clock, and Serbia had one last chance for a miracle. On the ensuing inbounds pass, Duško Savanović hit a streaking Veličković in front of the basket for an alley-oop, but Erden got a hand on the ball to deflect the shot and preserve the historic victory for Turkey.

Tunçeri was the hero for Turkey, scoring 10 of his 12 points in the final 5:16, while Türkoğlu scored a team-high 16 points. Big men Kešelj (18 points, 7 rebounds) and

After the game, Serbian players and media blamed the referees and FIBA for their loss, because of several decisions in the last minutes of the game they deemed suspicious. A few days after the game, Serbian media have published an amateur video showing Kerem Tunçeri stepping out of bounds before making the decisive last-second layup for Turkish victory.^[34]

11 September 21:30

Report

Serbia	82–83	Turkey
Scoring by quarter: 20–17, 22–18, 21–25, 19–23
Pts: Kešelj 18 Rebs: Kešelj, Krstić 7 Asts: Teodosić 11		Pts: Türkoğlu 16 Rebs: Aşık 7 Asts: Tunçeri 5

Sinan Erdem Dome, Istanbul Attendance: 15,000 Referees: Jose Anibal Carrion (PUR), Pablo Alberto Estevez (ARG), Reynaldo Antonio Mercedes Sanchez (DOM)

Third–place game

In the bronze medal match, it was all about offense as Lithuania defeated Serbia 99–88. Serbia got the better start, and led 18–9 midway through the first quarter before Lithuania came back with a 14–4 run to take a one-point lead at the first break. In the second quarter, Lithuania used their hot shooting and some minor runs to open up a ten-point halftime lead.^[35] The third quarter was more of the same; Lithuania was the better team and extended their lead to 22 at one point before Serbia cut the lead to 18 heading into the final quarter. Neither team missed many shots in the back-and-forth final quarter. Serbia could not cut the deficit below double digits, as Lithuania shot consistently and hung on for the 11-point victory.

Serbia shot 60.5% on two-point shots but made just six of 17 from behind the arc while Lithuania shot 52.2% from three-point range and 59% overall.^[36] Linas Kleiza bounced back from his poor performance yesterday and scored 33 points on 12 of 18 shooting, and Simas Jasaitis had a double-double with 14 points and ten rebounds. Novica Veličković led Serbia with 18 points while Aleksandar Rašić dished out ten assists. With the victory, Lithuania won their first ever medal at a World Championship. Serbia finished in fourth place in their first tournament competing under the name Serbia, after previous appearances as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montenegro.

12 September 19:00

Report

Serbia	88–99	Lithuania
Scoring by quarter: 22–23, 16–25, 16–24, 34–27
Pts: Veličković 18 Rebs: Krstić 8 Asts: Rašić 10		Pts: Kleiza 33 Rebs: Jasaitis 10 Asts: Kleiza 4

Sinan Erdem Dome, Istanbul Attendance: 15,000 Referees: Jorge Vasquez (PUR), Anthony Dewayne Jordan (USA), Christos Christodoulou (GRE)

Final

In a matchup of the only two unbeaten teams remaining in the tournament, USA captured its record-setting fourth World Championship with an 81–64 victory over Turkey.^[37] Kevin Durant again led the Americans, scoring 28 points while Lamar Odom added 15 points and 11 rebounds. With the title, USA also qualifies for the 2012 Summer Olympic tournament.^[38] Hosts Turkey ended their fantastic tournament run in front of the home crowd by capturing the silver medal, its first medal of any kind in one of the two major international tournaments.

12 September 21:30

Report

Turkey	64–81	United States
Scoring by quarter: 17–22, 15–20, 16–19, 16–20
Pts: Türkoğlu 16 Rebs: İlyasova 11 Asts: Tunçeri 5		Pts: Durant 28 Rebs: Odom 11 Asts: Rose 6

Sinan Erdem Dome, Istanbul Attendance: 15,000 Referees: Cristiano Jesus Maranho (BRA), Luigi Lamonica (ITA), Juan Arteaga (ESP)

References