"There really wasn't much doubt that Yi Jianlian would take the floor for what likely was going to be China's last game in the FIBA world championships. His left Achilles' injury had improved after a few days' rest, he felt good after a light practice on Monday, and his team -- his nation -- needed its best player when it went against Lithuania, one of just three undefeated teams remaining in the tournament.

Yi scored 11 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in 35 minutes during China's 78-67 loss on Tuesday and lowered his head as he walked off the court. He was understandably disappointed, after he was held to just two field goal attempts in the second half, with Lithuania focused on shutting him down. China finished with just one victory in six games as Yi was unable to match the dominant performance of Linas Kleiza, a former All-Met player of the year from Montrose Christian, who led all scorers with 30 points and made several clutch baskets -- including one over Yi -- to secure the victory.

Yi had a block and a steal, and made a long jumper as China took an early 16-5 lead against Lithuania, and he also had a nifty spin move and dunk early in the second period. Lithuania took a 66-51 lead in the fourth quarter, but Yi helped his team rally back with a dunk and a critical rebound and dump off to Wang Zhizhi to cap an 11-1 run to bring China within five with five minutes remaining. But that's where the highlights ended for Yi.

"We tried to fight today," Yi said after the game. "That game was tough, between a very good team. We played very good in the beginning, but Lithuania played with emotion, played hard defense, very high quality offense. We made some mistakes, you know. With a good team, when you make some mistakes, it's tough to win."

China coach Bob Donewald told ESPN.com's Chris Sheridan after the game that another flareup in Yi's Achilles' limited his effectiveness in the second half."