Former San Antonio Spurs player and Italy's sharpshooter Marco Belinelli (Photo : Reuters)
Italy and its trio of NBA stars will try to continue their amazing run in the 2015 EuroBasket as they face a very tough Lithuania squad anchored also on an NBA player in the quarterfinals of the said tournament.
The match will be held at the Pierre-Mauroy Stadium in Lille, France on Wednesday, September 16.
Italy reached the quarters after dismantling lowly Israel, 82-52, in the Round-of-16 games last Sunday, as reported by TalkBasket.
The Italians routed the Israelis from the start, which allowed head coach Simone Pianigiani to rest his NBA trio of Andrea Bargnani, Danilo Gallinari, and Marco Belinelli for most of the game.
Backup small forward Alessandro Gentile led the attack with 27 points and five rebounds. He also defended well the Sacramento Kings' Omri Casspi, limiting him to only eight points on 3-of-9 shooting.
Meanwhile, Lithuania came from behind to survive a dramatic finish against lowly Georgia, 85-81, to advance against the Italians in the quarters, as per Be In Sports.
Veteran forward Jonas Mačiulis provided the inspirational performance for head coach Jonas Kazlauskas' squad as he fired an incredible 34 points off 11-of-13 shooting with six rebounds and three assists.
Toronto Raptors center Jonas Valančiūnas was a non-factor in the game as he was contained by fellow NBA player Zaza Pachulia of the Dallas Mavericks.
Valančiūnas is expected to struggle again versus the Italians, so Mačiulis must show up again to try and tide Lithuania past the quarterfinal round. They also have to contend against the deadly outside shooting of Belinelli and Gallinari to have a chance.
Prediction: Italy wins, 79-74
Italy starting five: Andrea Bargnani (C), Danilo Gallinari (PF), Luigi Datome (SF), Marco Belinelli (SG), Andrea Cinciarini (PG)
Lithuania starting five: Jonas Valančiūnas (C), Paulius Jankūnas (PF), Jonas Mačiulis (SF), Renaldas Seibutis (SG), Mantas Kalnietis (PG)
