Russia unable to solve US basketball riddle

Team Russia couldn’t come up with a sensation and stop favorites – the US – in the quarterfinals of the basketball World Championships in Turkey.

The Americans had problems only in the first two quarters, grabbing a confident 89-78 win.

Sergey Bykov, Andrey Vorontsevich, Sasha Kaun, Sergey Monya and Anton Ponkrashov were in the Russian starting five, while Kevin Durant, Lamar Odom, Andre Iguodala, Chauncey Billups and Derrick Rose began the match for the US.

Bykov kicked the game off with a three-pointer for Russia, but the Americans soon made it level through Lamar Odom, who scored with a foul.

After that, the teams didn’t let each other go in the first quarter and were at 25-25 at its end.

The US coach was forced to take time out in the middle of the second ten minutes as Russia’s lead reached 5 points at that stage. However, Mike Krzyzewski’s words seemed to have reached his players’ ears, and it was 42-37 for the Americans by the middle of the game.

David Blatt’s charges were better on the rebound, though he committed too many fouls, which were calmly converted by the likes of Iguodala and Billups.

The American gap kept growing in the third quarter. Rose took center stage, finishing two turnovers with spectacular slam-dunks.

The team’s started the final quarter with Russia trailing by 14 points, as the relaxed NBA stars led the game to a 89-78 win.

Team US progresses to the Worlds’ semis, while Russia will battle it out for a places from 5th to 8th.