Celtics rookie center Semih Erden, playing for Turkey in the FIBA semifinal against Serbia, made two clutch plays in the final seconds to help Turkey advance to the finals against USA.

With 0.5 seconds left and Turkey leading 83-82, Serbia connected on an inbound-lob, but Erden blocked the last-second shot to preserve the win.

The frantic last twenty seconds of the game featured three lead changes, beginning with an Erden and-one dunk at 16.8 seconds. Erden missed the free-throw and, after some crisp interior passing, Serbia went ahead 82-81 on a layup at 4.5 seconds. Turkey advanced the ball to half-court with a timeout and Turkey guard  Kerem Tunceri made an uncontested layup with 0.5 seconds remaining to set up Erden’s game-saving block.

Erden finished the game with 9 points, three assists, two rebounds, one steal and one game-saving block in 21 minutes of action.

Turkey will square-off with USA in the FIBA championship Sunday at 2:30 PM ET on ESPN. The game will be played in Istanbul, Turkey, with the winner  receiving an automatic bid to the 2010 Olympics in London.