THE UNITED States men’s basketball team cruised to a dominant 103-86 victory over South Sudan to remain undefeated in the 2024 Paris Olympics on Wednesday night (Thursday in the Philippines) at the Pierre Mauroy Stadium in Lillie, France.
Bam Adebayo spearheaded the attack with 18 points, seven rebounds, and two blocks, while Kevin Durant contributed 14 markers as Team USA took a 2-0 record, clinching a quarterfinals seat.
Anthony Edwards and LeBron James ended with 13 and 12 markers, respectively, while Devin Booker and Derrick White each ended with 10 points for the reigning Olympic gold medal winners.
“It does give us a sense of satisfaction as far as being able to play next week. But there’s a lot that we can get better at, a lot that we can clean up,” said Team USA’s Anthony Davis after clinching a playoff seat.
Just like in their game against Serbia, Team USA fell early against South Sudan as they trailed 6-7 and 8-10 before Durant and Adebayo took over for a double-digit spread.
Adebayo continued to attack the paint in the second quarter as the lead reached 33-14 before maintaining a 55-36 advantage heading into halftime break.
South Sudan, which lost to Team USA 101-100 in a friendly game two weeks ago, threatened to within 10 points early in the third quarter, but Team USA had a quick response to increase the lead to 73-57.
“South Sudan are a very talented team. On a given night, They can beat anybody,” said Team USA’s Stephen Curry, who was held to just three points in the victory.
Nuni Omot led South Sudan with 24 points, while Carlik Jones scored 18 points and Bul Kuol added 16 markers. They dropped to a 1-1 win-loss slate in Group C.
“We knew this wasn’t going to be an easy task. Our spirits are still positive,” said Jones, whose squad will have a must-win game against Serbia this weekend for a quarterfinals seat./PN
BOX SCORE:
USA 103 — Adebayo 18, Durant 14, Edwards 13, James 12, Booker 10, White 10, Davis 8, Haliburton 6, Holiday 5, Tatum 4, Curry 3.
SOUTH SUDAN 86 — Omot 24, Jones 18, Kuol 16, Shayok 12, Thor 7, Jok 7, Gabriel 2, Maluach 0, Makoi 0, Deng 0, Dech 0.
Quarterscores: 26-14, 55-36, 73-57, 103-86.
