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Australia has run away with a 26 point win over Lithuania in the quarter-finals in Rio, winning the game 90 – 64.
Led by a dominant three-point display from Patrick Mills and Matthew Dellavedova Australia led from start to finish.
Lithuania had no answer early on for the three-point shot. Delly hit three three-pointers in the first quarter alone, including a buzzer-beating shot that extended their lead to 9 at the first break.
Lithuania was plagued with turnovers in the second quarter and when they lost Paulius Jankunas to injury Lithuania was always going to struggle.
Dellavedova sent a scare through the Australian team when he went down with a what appeared to be a hip injury, but it was only minor and he resumed after a few minutes on the sideline.
Mills and Delly were the standouts in the first half, each with double digits scores on the board. Mindaugas Kuzminskas was the stand out for the Lithuanian team with 6.
Lithuania started to show some life midway through the third quarter, but a number of fouls called on them and another big three from Mills stopped their momentum.
At one point Lithuania got the game back to 14 points, but a quick run from Australia and more sloppy play from Lithuania soon pushed the lead back to over 18.
Lithuania would win the fourth quarter 21–20, but Australia had emptied the bench to give the starters a rest.
Australia played fantastic in this game and it was a much-needed boost for the Australian Olympic team after the Opals failures the day before.
Australia now faces the winner of Serbia and Croatia with the winner going on to play for the gold medal.
Final score:
Australia 90
Lithuania 64
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Australia has been one of the standout teams this Olympics, winning all but one game in the group stages, and pushing the USA team to the brink of defeat in their sole loss.
Lithuania have had an up-and-down tournament, losing by 50 to Spain and also falling to Croatia in the pool stage.
Lithuania boast three NBA players, including up-and-comer Domantas Sabonis, while the Aussies boast five current NBA players, including three NBA championship winners in Andrew Bogut, Matthew Dellavedova and Patty Mills.
These teams have history, with Lithuania twice beating Australia for the Olympic bronze medal, in 1996 and 2000. The last time they met was in the final warm-up game before Rio, with Lithuania getting up by 13 points.
In that game however, Australia was without Bogut, while Delly and Mills played well below their standard. As in most cases, the form guide from a warm up game should never be taken seriously, however Lithuania may use the win as a motivator.
The battle of the big men will be the biggest point of this match with Bogut and Valanciunas battling hard for every possession.
Australia will most likely be without Cameron Bairstow, who injured his shoulder in the previous game against Venezuela, while Lithuania are expected to be at full strength.
The Aussies are early favourites given how they have played, but I get a strong sense Lithuania has been holding back, doing just enough to get to the finals while also avoiding the USA.
Despite how well the Australian team has been playing, they have only really faced one danger team, in the USA, while Lithuania have had to battle some of the best of Europe and South America on their way to this game.
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