With less than six minutes remaining, Team USA was in jeopardy of a shocking loss to Lithuania in the fourth game of the preliminary round of the 2012 Olympic basketball tournament. Then, LeBron James took over. The Miami Heat star scored nine points down the stretch, and the Americans held on for a 99-94 win that was competitive throughout.
Team USA took a six-point lead after three quarters, but Lithuania responded with a 9-2 run to take a two-point advantage on a three-pointer by Linas Kleiza with seven minutes remaining in the game. Lithuania maintained that advantage for a couple minutes, but Chris Paul hit a critical three-pointer with 5:39 remaining to allow Team USA to regain the lead. Then, James took over, hitting a three-pointer and dunking on the fast break to push Team USA's lead back to six points with three and a half minutes remaining.
Team USA finally polished off Lithuania a minute later. James missed a three-pointer, but Paul grabbed the rebound and passed to Deron Williams in midair for an open three-pointer. Then, after a Lithuania turnover, James drove past Darius Songaila and hit a lefty layup to give Team USA a nine-point lead with 2:10 remaining.
James finished with 20 points in the game. Carmelo Anthony added 20 points for Team USA, and Kevin Durant added 16. Linas Kleiza led all scorers with 25 points for Lithuania, while former Duke reserve Martynas Pocius added 14.
Team USA moves to 4-0 and regained control of Group A. Lithuania falls to 1-3, but they should still make the quarterfinals with a win over lowly Tunisia on Monday.
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