The 2010 FIBA World Championship Final was a basketball game between the men's national teams of Turkey and the United States that took place on September 12, 2010, at Sinan Erdem Dome in Istanbul, Turkey, to determine the winner of the

2010 FIBA World Championship The 2010 FIBA World Championship was the 16th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship contested by the men's national teams. The tournament ran from 28 August to 12 September 2010. It was co-organised by the Inte ...

. The US team won the world title after defeating Turkey 81–64. This was the first match-up in any major international competition between the United States and Turkey. The last time the two teams faced each other in a match was at an exhibition game before the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

. At that meeting, the U.S. won 114–82.

Route to the final

Both teams qualified to the tournament automatically,

the U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

by winning the gold medal at the Olympics in Beijing, and Turkey as hosts. Historically, the teams were polar opposites. America had 16

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

medals and 10

FIBA World Cup The FIBA Basketball World Cup, also known as the FIBA World Cup of Basketball or simply the FIBA World Cup, between 1950 and 2010 known as the FIBA World Championship, is an international basketball competition contested by the senior men's nat ...

medals, while Turkey's only previous international medal of any kind was a silver at the EuroBasket 2001. The US brought the top scoring offense into the final, averaging 94.3 points and 18.5 assists per game. Nevertheless, Turkey's vaunted 2–1–2 zone made it the top defensive team (64 points per game) in the tournament heading into the final, and a commentator on NBA.com wrote that the European crowd would "be the most hostile crowd most of these .S.players, with the exception of maybe Chauncey Billups and

Lamar Odom Lamar Joseph Odom (born November 6, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player. As a member of the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA), he won championships in 2009 and 2010 and was named the NBA Sixt ...

, have ever seen." The U.S. had an easier route to the final, winning all of their games in runaway fashion, with the sole exception of their preliminary round game against Brazil. Turkey, on the other hand, had close games against Puerto Rico in the preliminary round, and against Serbia in the semifinals, in which

Kerem Tunçeri Mehmet Kerem Tunçeri (born 14 April 1979) is a Turkish former professional basketball player who played at the point guard and shooting guard positions.He is 194 cm (6 ft 4 in) in height and 86 kg (190 lbs.) in weight. Na ...

scored the go-ahead basket, with less than a second left, after picking up

Hedo Türkoğlu Hidayet "Hedo" Türkoğlu (; born March 19, 1979) is a Turkish basketball executive and former professional player. A forward, Türkoğlu played for six teams in his 15-season career in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He won the NBA ...

's fumble, to give Turkey the 83–82 win. Both teams were undefeated going into the final.

Match details

The game was close for the first half — Turkey even led at one point during the first quarter — but the American athleticism was too much for the Turks, and the U.S. was able to pull away on easy baskets. Kevin Durant was the game's leading scorer, with 28 points, including seven

three-point field goals A three-point field goal (also 3-pointer, three, or trey) is a field goal in a basketball game made from beyond the three-point line, a designated arc surrounding the basket. A successful attempt is worth three points, in contrast to the two poi ...

. Durant scored 20 of his points in the first half.

came up big when it mattered most, scoring all fifteen of his points in the second half, and grabbing eleven rebounds overall.

was Turkey's leading scorer with 16 points, despite suffering a knee injury during the first half. Ersan İlyasova had seven points and eleven rebounds. With the win, Mike Krzyzewski became the first U.S. national basketball head coach to win an Olympic Gold Medal and a FIBA World Cup. The U.S. also clinched an automatic berth in the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

References

External links

* * {{Turkey–United States relations Final Turkey national basketball team games United States national basketball team games Sports competitions in Istanbul Turkey–United States relations FIBA Basketball World Cup Finals Final Final September 2010 sports events in Turkey