Lithuania give a big scare to the NBA stars

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Mumbai: One of the greatest upsets in the history of basketball came within inches. In a game that wasn't decided until the final shot missed by about a foot, the United States edged Lithuania 85-83 on Friday night to reach the gold medal game.

The potential winning shot was taken from 3-point range by Sarunas Jasikevicius and appeared to leave his hand after the final buzzer. But, one of the referees held his hand up to signal that the shot would count if it went. It didn't, and the Americans were able to escape with their closest victory since NBA players started competing in the Olympics in 1992.

The United States moved on to face France in the gold medal game on Sunday. Lithuania, who lost to the Americans by just nine points in the preliminary round, will have to settle for the bronze medal game against Australia. But with what they nearly pulled off, they should get some sort of special medal for changing the way the world will view basketball.

Only a week ago, people in the United States and Americans in Australia were wondering whether it was still a good idea to send professional players to the Olympics. The games weren't even competitive, they said, and the rest of the world was still 20 years away from a victory, they believed.

No one will ever make that argument again. Lithuania, who won the bronze in 1992 and 1996, were competing without two of their best players - NBA centres Arvydas Sabonis and Zydrunas Ilgauskas - who had to miss the Olympics because of injuries.

But even without them, they had a plan and enough talent to take a shot. And what a shot it was.