It has taken 16 long years, but the United States have finally reclaimed their title as the world champions of international men's basketball.
Rising superstar Kevin Durant led the way with 28 points as the Americans outclassed host nation Turkey 81-64 in the gold medal match today to cap an
undefeated campaign under coach Mike Krzyzewski.
The US arrived in Istanbul without LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and the entire team that won gold at the Beijing Olympics and with question marks over their undersized line-up.
But they believed sheer talent would carry them through and that proved the case in their first world championship triumph since a young Shaquille O'Neal led the second ever `Dream Team' of US professionals to gold in 1994.
Buoyed by a frenzied home crowd, Turkey punched well above their weight throughout the tournament, stealing a last-second win over Serbia in the semi-finals to guarantee at least a silver medal.
And that is what they achieved, casting aside their standing as the 18th-ranked team in the world to snare second place.
Crowd favourite Hedo Turkoglu, the face of the championship, led Turkey with 16 points.
The match got off to a highly-charged start, with a deafening home crowd trying to lift their team to an improbable victory.
An 8-0 run late in the first term gave Turkey a 17-14 lead and sent fans into hysterics, but the US responded with an 8-0 run of their own, ending the quarter with a 22-17 lead.
Turkey tried to keep pace in the second term, but Durant continually brought groans from the crowd as his impressive shooting allowed the favourites to build their advantage.
Durant's nine straight points gave the US a double-digit lead and a 42-32 edge at the main break.
Earlier, NBA star Linas Kleiza led Lithuania to a 99-88 victory over Serbia in the bronze medal playoff.
Kleiza scored 33 points and added seven boards, four assists and three steals in a dominant display for the surprising young Lithuanian side.
Lithuania's only loss was against the US in the semifinals, while Serbia failed to produce their best following their heart-breaking last-second loss to Turkey in the final four.
- AAP
