With a 4-1 record, the U.S. men’s basketball team qualified for the Olympics despite losing to longstanding European power Lithuania in the FIBA World Cup quarterfinals.
With the absence of All-NBA 7-footer Domantas Sabonis and inspired by NBA veteran Jonas Valanciunas, Lithuania defeated the United States 110-104 on Sunday in Manila to win the group.
Since both clubs previously secured berths in the quarterfinals last week, the group-stage championship was solely for seeding. As one of the top two teams from the Americas at the World Cup, the United States earned a spot in the Olympics.
“It doesn’t ease the pain of the loss that we had tonight for us, but for USA Basketball, it’s a good thing,” to qualify for Paris, U.S. head coach Steve Kerr said. “To be honest, I’m not worried about the Olympics. I’m worried about this. We want to win the World Cup.”
The U.S., who finished second in the group, will face another group winner, Italy, on Tuesday.
After the first quarter, Lithuania jumped out to a 31-12 advantage, two days after Montenegro kept the Americans close before the Americans broke away to win by 12.
“I didn’t feel like we let down,” Kerr said. “They just punched us in the mouth. Right away, they made every shot. They executed. I don’t think it was a case of us not being ready. I think it was a case of them playing a perfect first quarter and us understanding how hard we’re going to have to play.”
Anthony Edwards had a game-high 35 points, but Lithuania outrebounded the Americans 43-27 and made 14 of 25 three-point attempts to defeat the Americans.
“I hate losing,” Kerr said. “I probably won’t sleep much tonight, but for us to get better, we needed to feel this. We needed to respond the way we did. Next game, we have to start the way we did the second half. We can’t ease into the game at all.”
After two losses at the 2019 World Cup (en route to a program-worst seventh-place finish) and a setback in the group stage of the Tokyo Olympics (en route to a fourth consecutive gold), the United States has now lost at least one game in three straight international competitions.
Prior to that, the United States won the Olympic or world titles without losing in 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, and 2016.
No athletes with previous Olympic or World Cup experience, nor any NBA All-Stars, are on the U.S. squad for this World Cup.
In seven consecutive Olympics from 1992 to 2016, Lithuania reached the quarterfinals (winning bronze in 1992, 1996, and 2000), but did not advance to the Tokyo Games.
