of the "Dream Team" left the Lithuanians absolutely no chances for victory, with the Baltic state taking a lopsided 76–127. It is still the biggest loss ever suffered by the Lithuanian squad, who scored only 34.2% of their shots. The Americans still recognized that they aimed to ramp up their game specially to counter the Lithuanians, with Larry Bird acknowledging that "we knew the Lithuanians were capable of scoring, (so) we didn't take them lightly", and Magic Johnson saying that "they're a dangerous team, so we had to pick up our intensity, play better defense". Afterwards, the Lithuanian team coaches decided to start resting the primary players for the bronze medals game. At the bronze medal game, Lithuanians faced the Unified Team for the third time that year, with each team winning once. Captain Valdemaras Chomičius felt that "We lost to them once already, we couldn't let that happen again. The final had to be ours", while Šarūnas Marčiulionis added that "We didn't have any choice, we absolutely had to win at any cost". Head coach Vladas Garastas briefed the team saying "Men, you're playing for the people of Lithuania. Forget about your personal ambitions. People are watching you, losing sleep over you". Šarūnas Marčiulionis: "Some were listening on radios, others were watching on television. All of Lithuania was stopped. Everyone was watching that game". In a close match, the Lithuanians kept the lead all times for an 82–78 victory, that felt inexpressibly remarkable for a tiny country which regained its independence just two years and was playing the remains of its former colonizer. Marčiulionis played 40 minutes during that match and scored 29 points, while Sabonis added 27. Donnie Nelson described the locker room as "like winning the NBA championship times five". After the bronze medal victory, de jure Head of State Vytautas Landsbergis visited the team at the locker room, and they all sung the national anthem. During the awarding ceremony, Lithuanians decided to dress up the colorful Skeleton Jerseys in order to show their newly reborn country national colors and to show their gratitude to Greg Speirs and the Grateful Dead for their financial support. Rimas Kurtinaitis characterized the emotional awarding ceremony by saying: "Well, we cried. It was really from joy. Words cannot even express feelings like that. You need to be there". Valdemaras Chomičius: "It was such an emotion that it's hard to explain. You