U.S. men survive first test, beat Lithuania 99-94

LONDON — When the moment arrived, the Americans responded.

They're still unbeaten, but no longer untested.

Pushed to the max by a fearless Lithuanian team smelling a world-shaking Olympic upset, the U.S. collection of basketball superstars united as one.

And LeBron James led the way.

Two days after running and gunning to a record-shattering 83-point win, the U.S. was forced to play a possession-for-possession game in the fourth quarter in a 99-94 win over Lithuania.

The Americans were in serious trouble until James — in his third Olympics — stepped up in the closing minutes.

"It was like LeBron said, 'I got this, I'm doing this," U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski said.

James scored 9 his 20 points in the final four minutes for the U.S. (4-0), which had looked nearly invincible in thrashing Nigeria 156-73 on Thursday night while breaking several records. But the Americans were reminded that the path to a gold medal is loaded with traps and Lithuania nearly sprang one.

"You want to get tested," James said. "The best teams want to be tested. We love the competition. We've got some of the greatest competitors in our league, in this world, so you want to have a game where you feel like you were tested, and we had that today."

And then some.

The U.S. trailed by two points with under six minutes left before using a 15-4 run to put away Lithuania (1-3), which was seeking to duplicate its stunning win over the Americans in 2004 win at Athens, when the U.S. program dropped to its low point after decades of dominance.

However, James, who was an Olympic rookie eight years ago, refused to allow it.

The reigning MVP and a recently crowned NBA champion knocked down a 3-pointer from the top of the key, and after Paul stole the inbounds pass, James took a feed down the right side and delivered one of his trademark dunks, a basket that brought the American players off the bench and seemed to restore world basketball order.

Carmelo Anthony added 20 points, Kevin Durant 16 and Chris Paul added seven rebounds, six assists and four of the U.S. team's 17 steals. After making a record 29 3-pointers in their epic win over Nigeria, the Americans missed 23 of 33 attempts behind the arc and too often settled for outside shots.

The U.S. wasn't sharp on defense either as Lithuania ran a high pick-and-roll to death that the Americans never really figured out how to stop.

"We can play better offensively and defensively, no questions about that," Krzyzewski said.

It didn't help that the U.S. also missed 12 free throws, with Kevin Love going 3 of 8.

"Shaq on the free-throw line today," Love posted on his Twitter page, comparing himself to Shaquille O'Neal. "My bad USA. Good win for us. Needed a game like that."

Linas Kleiza scored 25 points and Martynas Pocius, who played for Krzyzewski at Duke, had 14 for Lithuania, the longtime hoop power with three Olympic bronze medals on its resume.

Krzyzewski figured his team would be challenged sooner or later and was not at all surprised the first real conflict came against Lithuania.

"These guys are really good," he said. "We needed this."

No, this wasn't easy, and that may be good in the long run for the Americans, who couldn't have helped but feel a little overconfident after Thursday's game when they made 29 3-pointers, scored 78 points in both halves and put on a breathtaking 40-minute display of international basketball.