The NBA preseason is less than a month away, but as teams prepare for the 2014-2015 season, many are awaiting the return of their star players from the FIBA World Cup in Spain.
Team USA will take on Serbia in the gold medal game tomorrow. The Americans will look to be just the third team in history to win back-to-back FIBA World Cups. In 2010, team USA defeated the host country of Turkey in the finals for their fourth gold medal. This time around, the home Spanish team made an early exit after a quarterfinal loss to France. Spain was highly considered a favorite to win this year's World Cup. Going into the fourth quarter with a one point lead, the NBA player-heavy Spaniards were outscored 23-9 in the final frame. Pau Gasol, now of the Chicago Bulls, lead the team with 17 points and 8 rebounds in the loss. His brother Marc Gasol combined with Oklahoma City Thunder forward Serge Ibaka for just 5 points in the loss. Boris Diaw of the defending champion San Antonio Spurs lead the way with 15 points for the French national team.
Despite 35 points from Portland Trail Blazers forward Nicolas Batum and a 39-point fourth quarter, France lost to Serbia in the semifinals by a score of 90-85. Milos Teodosic, a guard who plays professionally in Russia for CSKA Moscow, scored a team-high 24 points for Serbia. Teodosic is averaging 14 points per game in the tournament. He has made 55.2 percent of his shots from the field and 48.9 percent of shots from three-point range.
Serbia will now look to upset the Americans, who have yet to lose a game in the tournament. In a game filled with pushing a shoving, Team USA defeated Lithuania 96-68 in the semifinals. Kyrie Irving lead the way for Coach Mike Krzyzewski's squad with a game-high 18 points. James Harden and Klay Thompson added 16 points each in the victory. Looking toward the gold medal matchup, depth will continue to be key for the United States. They have the ability to spread the floor and Irving and Harden create defensive challenges for opposing teams. Thompson has been a big factor off the bench. The Golden State Warriors guard scored 20 points against Slovenia in the quarterfinals and can create an overwhelming matchup for Serbia, who is weaker at the guard position. The high-powered American offense has only been held to under 90 points once in the tournament.
All signs point to a repeat for team USA in a World Cup that has included several surprising upsets late in the tournament. Spain was expected to compete for gold and potentially be the kryptonite for the Americans with their size in the paint. But France spoiled their hopes before losing to a Serbian team that will look to continue the upset trend and leave the defending champions with a silver medal. France did, however, win the bronze medal by defeating Lithuania 95-93 behind Nicolas Batum's game-high 27 points. Toronto Raptors center Jonas Valanciunas scored 25 points for Lithuania.
Team USA will tip off against Serbia on Sunday. No matter the outcome, the Americans will come back to the states with their 12th World Cup medal.