The Olympic champions defeated Lithuania 96-68 at Barcelona's Palau Sant Jordi despite a sluggish start and a tough challenge from the losing side that kept things even at the beginning of the game.

The winners got their first lead near the midway point of the first quarter when Klay Thompson hit his team's first three-pointer for a 10-9 edge.

Kyrie Irving also connected from beyond the arc before Derrick Rose sank a pair of free throws to see the US taking what at that point was the biggest lead of the game, 18-13.

Darjuš Lavrinovič then came through for Lithuania and struck immediately with a three-pointer, but Thompson ensured the advantage remained with the US and DeMarcus Cousins closed the first period splitting his foul shots to keep them 21-16 ahead.

Stephen Curry opened the second quarter with free-throws for a technical foul called on Lithuania coach Jonas Kazlauskas but Thompson continued to plough on to see the US taking a 45-35 lead into the locker-room.

The US will now face either France or Serbia in Sunday's final in Madrid ©Getty Images


The US came back and opened the second half with 10 unanswered points to virtually seal the game and lead by 76-49 at the start the fourth quarter.

Irving led all scorers with 18 points, while Thompson and Harden added 16 each, and Curry finished with 13.

Both Mindaugas Kuzminskas and Jonas Valančiūnas shared top-scoring honours for Lithuania with 15 points.

The US will now face the winner of tomorrow's semi-final between France and Serbia in Madrid on Sunday (September 14), while the losing team will take on Lithuania in the bronze medal match on Saturday (September 13).

The bronze medal match and final are due to take place at the Palacio de Deportes de la Comunidad de Madrid.

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