Austin Reaves reacts to Kariniauskas' tongue taunt, surprised by Olympic berth / News - Basketnews.com

Austin Reaves reflected on Vaidas Kariniauskas' cheeky move in the FIBA World Cup clash between Team USA and Lithuania: "There have been many times in my career when people have looked at me sideways, done stuff, so it's basketball."

Credit: FIBA Credit FIBA

In Sunday's FIBA World Cup 2023 matchup, Lithuania's point guard Vaidas Kariniauskas proved to be a significant challenge for Austin Reaves and Team USA, resulting in a surprising upset on the basketball world stage.

Player of the Game EFF 16 Vaidas Kariniauskas Points 15 Accuracy 5-7 Rebounds 4 Assists 2

Kariniauskas exploited the low post, taking advantage of mismatch situations and converting crucial "and-one" plays. In a bold moment, he even playfully stuck out his tongue at Reaves, creating quite a buzz in the sports media.

The day after this showdown, Reaves shared his thoughts on his opponent's cheeky move.

"It's basketball. He is competing, I am competing. I don't feel any type of way about him doing that. I am not taking it personally," the Los Angeles Lakers player said. "There have been many times in my career when people have looked at me sideways, done stuff, so it's basketball.

"At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter. As I said, he played a really good game, they played a really good game as a unit, and they beat us, to say the least. We'll bounce back."

Credit Erikas Ovčarenko/BNS

Despite experiencing their first loss in five games during the competition, Team USA secured their place in the 2024 Paris Olympics by advancing to the quarterfinals, along with Canada, as the top two teams from the Americas region.

Reaves, somewhat surprised by this fact, responded:

"We qualified on Sunday? I didn't know that. We were upset about the defeat, but it's nice to hear that. That was one of the goals before the World Cup, and we are happy that we succeeded. However, we are now focused on this tournament," he said, via Sportal.rs.

Next up, Team USA takes on Italy in a do-or-die game on Tuesday.

Reaves emphasized their commitment to not underestimating the Italian team.

"We have to be at a high level for all 40 minutes," he underlined. "We must not allow ourselves to enter the game slowly, to have minutes in which we do not play at one hundred percent. These matches are to be or not to be. Everyone who steps on the court must be focused and play with one goal: to win the game."

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