U.S. men’s basketball team leads Lithuania at halftime, 55-51

LONDON -- This certainly isn’t a Nigeria redux.

The U.S. men’s basketball team didn’t come close to pushing around Lithuania in the first half, holding a relatively slender 55-51 edge in a preliminary game Saturday at the Olympic Park basketball arena.

Carmelo Anthony had 14 points and Kevin Durant had nine for the U.S., which had rolled up 78 points at halftime against Nigeria on the way to a record-setting 156-73 victory Thursday.

The U.S. wasn’t nearly as dependable from three-point range Saturday, making six of 19 shots (32%) after a sublime 63% behind the arc against Nigeria.

Toronto Raptors forward Linas Kleiza had 16 first-half points for Lithuania, which entered with a 1-2 record.

The U.S. had only six assists in the first half compared with 15 for Lithuania.

In more surprising news, Spain continued to falter badly, losing to Russia earlier Saturday, 77-74. The squad expected to challenge Team USA for a gold medal barely beat Britain on Thursday, sneaking away with a one-point victory.

In Spain’s loss, Pau Gasol missed the first of two free-throw attempts that would have tied the score with 5.2 seconds to play.

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