Stephen Curry was relatively calm offensively during the U.S. Olympic team’s first two showings before the Paris Games.
He became much more assertive on Wednesday with his official Olympic debut less than two weeks away.
Curry marked With 24 points, Bam Adebayo added 17 as the USA beat Serbia 105-79 to improve to 3-0 in their five-game exhibition series ahead of the Paris Olympics.
Anthony Davis finished with seven points, six rebounds and six blocks, helping lead a U.S. defensive effort that limited Serbia. Anthony Edwards had 16 points. LeBron James added 11.
The USA led by as many as 31 points in the last of two friendlies in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The Americans now head to London to do two more tune-ups before heading to France. The first will be on Saturday, against South Sudan, followed by a clash with Germany, on Monday, at the O2 Arena, in London.
The U.S. got off to an uneven start before using a 16-2 run in the second quarter to take a 56-42 lead and lead 59-45 at halftime.
Nikola Jokic had 16 points and 11 rebounds for Serbia. Aleksa Avramovic added 14 points. Serbia were playing their second match in two days, coming off a defeat to Australia on Tuesday in which they rested captain Bogdan Bogdanovic.
Wednesday’s clash was an important preview for the Serbs and the USA, who will compete in Group C at the Olympics. They open their quest for gold against each other on July 28th.
After almost wasting a huge lead in his narrow victory over Australia on Monday, this time there was no such disappointment for the US.
The Americans led by 25 after three quarters and quickly increased it to 30 in the final quarter.
The U.S. used its third different starting lineup, featuring Curry, Jrue Holiday, Jayson Tatum, LeBron James and Joel Embiid.
The only constants across the three exhibitions were Curry, James and Embiid.
One of the reasons for Embiid’s presence on the roster was the U.S. coaching staff’s desire this cycle to face bigger teams like Serbia, which has a trio of 7-foot players.
Embiid’s conditioning is not at its peak yet. But he was active on both ends, finding cutters on the offensive end and being an active deterrent on the defensive line.
For the second game in a row, the U.S. reserves provided a boost. Edwards, Davis, Tyrese Haliburton, Bam Adebayo and Devin Booker entered the game for the first time with 4:54 left in the first quarter and trailing 16-13.
The U.S. outscored the Serbians 15-12 the rest of the period, tying the game at 28 early in the second quarter.
The American reserves scored 28 points off the bench in the first half.
Kevin Durant sat for the third consecutive game as he continues to recover from the calf strain he suffered early in training camp.
But guard Derrick White made his debut after joining the team over the weekend as Kawhi Leonard’s replacement.
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