• The US suffered a defeat to Lithuania in the FIBA Basketball World Cup.
• This is the first time the US has been defeated.
• Lithuania held a commanding 17-point lead at halftime.

In a surprising turn of events, the United States suffered a 110-104 defeat to Lithuania in the FIBA Basketball World Cup held in the Philippines on Sunday.

Lithuania held a commanding 17-point lead at halftime, and despite a late comeback attempt by the US, they managed to secure only their third-ever victory over the Americans. This loss marked the first time the US has been defeated in the group stage since 2002.

Both Lithuania and the US will advance to the quarterfinals, with Lithuania, as the top seed in Group J, set to face Serbia, and the US scheduled to take on Italy.

Jonas Valančiūnas had a notable performance with 12 points, seven rebounds, and two blocks for Lithuania, while Anthony Edwards was the top scorer in the game with 35 points for the US, tying Carmelo Anthony for the second-highest point total in a FIBA game involving the US basketball team. The record for the most points remains held by Kevin Durant, who scored 38 points during the 2010 tournament.

Kazys Maksvytis, the head coach of Lithuania, advised his squad to “save our emotions” for the upcoming contest.

“Congratulations to my players, but we need to have short memory to prepare for the second game,” he said, per FIBA.

Steve Kerr, the head coach of the USA, criticized his team’s performance, stating Lithuania “just punched us in the mouth.”

“We’re fortunate that the loss doesn’t hurt us in terms of our goal, which is to win the gold medal,” Kerr added while speaking to reporters after the game.

“It’s a great game for us to experience because this is FIBA … I hate losing. I probably won’t sleep much tonight. But for us to get better we needed to feel this. We needed to respond the way we did and next game we have to start the way we did in the second half. We can’t ease into the game at all. I’m hoping this is a lesson and we get better from this.”

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