Team USA, Lithuania nearly come to blows after game (GIFs)
Although the early rounds were somewhat relaxed, as the FIBA World Cup winds down, the games are getting more intense.
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Wednesday’s game between France and Spain proved that – France upset Spain, the favorite behind the United States to win the tournament – and you could see the emotion on both team’s faces. The win sent France to the semifinals where they will play Serbia on Friday.
Things escalated even more when the United States took on Lithuania on Thursday.
It started with an elbow from Toronto Raptors’ center Jonas Valančiūnas to Sacramento Kings’ big man DeMarcus Cousins. Cousins got backed and nearly punched Valančiūnas but thought better of it and resisted (and you can watch the video here).
That play occurred just prior to halftime and the USA took control of the game with a 10-0 run to start the second half and eventually cruised to a 96-68 victory, it looked like that may be the end of it. However, there were hard fouls throughout and after the game, there was a little bit of a scrum – you can even seen Coach K get involved.
You can see all of the action below.
(This GIF/Vine comes courtesy of Ben Golliver from one of our partners, Sports Illustrated – @BenGolliver. You can also follow FanSided’s GIF makers, Zombie Prophet or Mike Dyce. Follow them on twitter, @MikeDyce, @ZProphet_MMA or @FanSidedGIF, for the best GIFs in sports).
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