FIBA semifinal: USA overcomes another slow start, steamrolls Lithuania for Finals berth

The United States continues to start slow and sloppy, and it doesn't make one lick of difference in the end.

On Thursday, the U.S. defeated Lithuania 96-68 in a semifinal showdown, advancing to Sunday's final against the winner of Friday's game between Serbia and France.

For the second consecutive outing and third time in the FIBA World Cup, the Americans look disorganized and disinterested out of the gate, allowing a very game Lithuania team to hang tough through a half. The Lithuanians were perhaps lucky to be down just 43-35 entering halftime considering they shot just 1-of-8 on threes and turned the ball over 12 times, but a rebounding edge and effective rim protection had them right there.

And then the U.S. woke up, went on a 10-0 run to start the third quarter, and never took their foot off the gas again, and the Lithuanians just couldn't keep up.

While it's no longer Spain awaiting in the finals, the U.S. would be well served to tidy up how they've opened games. The Americans shot just 32.6 percent and 4-of-16 on threes in the first half, committed six turnovers in the first quarter, and really only had a lights-out Klay Thompson (14 of his 16 points) and an aggressive Kenneth Faried to thank for keeping their heads above water.

Actually, it's worth noting that Faried really stepped up to the challenge of facing the appreciable Lithuanian interior. Not only did he score nine points with six rebounds, he did so in style.

Luckily for the Americans, Lithuania missed some key shots, while Anhtony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins held their own defensively against Jonas Valanciunas, though he scored 15 points with seven rebounds and made 13 trips to the charity stripe. Not standing out defensively, however, was James Harden (shocking, we know).

Sure, Harden was treating defense with a laissez faire attitude in the first half, but he poured in 14 points in the third to help the U.S. pull away, finishing with 16 on 6-of-11 shooting.

Kyrie Irving joined Harden in picking things up in the second half, rebounding from a 2-of-8 mark to finish 8-of-15 with a game-high 18 points.

While the final box score is going to show a dominant U.S. performance - they finished shooting 48 percent, had a plus-12 mark on the boards and held Lithuania to 30 percent from the floor - it wasn't all crossovers and alley-oops. Not only did Rudy Gay take a stiff elbow to the face late in the third quarter, DeMarcus Cousins ate one in the neck courtesy of Valanciunas, very nearly inciting an international incident.

The final outcome is not particularly surprising. The Americans were 26.5-point favorites, and the Lithuanians were thin on the perimeter without captain and point guard Mantas Kalnietis. Valanciunas, Donatas Motiejunas, and Darjus Lavrinovic are a difficult frontcourt to handle, but the Americans were simply too deep and too talented to handle for 40 minutes. 

A bronze medal would still be a notable accomplishment for the Lithuanians, and they'll play for that honor on Saturday.

The U.S., meanwhile, will watch tomorrow's semifinal very closely while trying to figure out what, exactly, is causing them to come out of the gate slowly. Beating teams by an average of over 30 points means that bad habits aren't ironed out quickly, and the U.S. may be inclined to look past a non-Spain opponent early in the gold medal game.

Of course, slow starts haven't mattered much yet, and maybe being the most talented team in the tournament, running opponents out of the gym, and being able to score 53 points in a half with apparent ease will win out regardless.