Sam Amick

USA TODAY Sports

MADRID — Rudy Gay didn't look like a player on the verge of winning his second FIBA gold medal. As Team USA's practice was coming to an end Saturday, the Sacramento Kings forward sat with a solemn look in his courtside seat.

His smile isn't the same these days, through no fault of his own.

Gay took a vicious elbow to the top of his mouth in the third quarter of Team USA's Thursday win over Lithuania, and the damage done by big man Darjus Lavrinovic will be coming home with him after Sunday's gold medal game against Serbia and this FIBA World Cup comes to an end.

"I've got a fracture in my jaw, a broken tooth and am going to probably need a root canal," Gay told USA TODAY Sports. "The top is where I got hit. It's painful. It's uncomfortable, and it still bleeds, so I've got to continuously gargle. It is what it is, man."

There was come confusion as to the extent of the damage, however, as a team official said Gay's injuries include a chipped tooth and bruising around a tooth socket but did not include a fractured jaw. Nonetheless, Gay is not thrilled about how it all went down.

While Gay had to leave the game because of the hit, he voiced his displeasure with the Lithuanians in the handshake line after the game. That sparked a shouting match between the two teams and included USA coach Mike Krzyzewski waving his arms amid the chaos and trying to play peacemaker.

"I think (the elbow) had a little bit to do with (the situation afterward)," Gay said. "It was a dirty play, man. It was a dirty play."

Two days later, Gay still wasn't sure which of the Lavrinovic twins had delivered the blow, Ksistof or Darjus.

"I don't even remember," he said of the 34-year-old bruisers who stand 6-foot-11 with stocky frames and stout chins. "I couldn't tell them apart."

Long after the skirmish died down, Gay had to get his mouth worked on until 2 a.m. Friday morning in Barcelona before flying to Madrid hours later. He's fine to take part in Sunday's game, though it remains to be seen if he can suffer through a smile should Team USA get the gold as is so widely expected.