VILLENEUVE-D’ASCQ, France – In the rematch, the USA had an easier time with South Sudan than when the teams met for the first time a few weeks ago.
Easier. Difficult.
The USA secured a trip to the quarterfinals in the Paris Olympics by defeating South Sudan 103-86 on Wednesday night – a game that was never in doubt, but was also no joke. Bam Adebayo scored 18 points and Kevin Durant had 14 for the Americans, who took control with a 25-4 first-half run.
And led by Adebayo, the US reserves scored 66 points.
“We’ve been calling ourselves the mob bench for a long time,” Adebayo said. “And it doesn’t matter who’s in the lineup. We always seem to figure it out.”
Anthony Edwards scored 13 and LeBron James added 12 for the USA. Nuni Omot led South Sudan with 21 points, while Carlik Jones scored 18 and Bul Kuol added 16.
The victory guaranteed a place in the round of 16 and first place in Group C for the USA, who joined Canada, France and Germany in the quarterfinals. There are still seven teams alive for the other four quarter-final spots; Only Puerto Rico, which faces the Americans on Saturday, was eliminated from contention to advance.
That said, Saturday’s game — the first between Puerto Rico and the U.S. at the Olympics since the embarrassing 92-73 loss in Athens 20 years ago — is not meaningless for the U.S. A 3-0 record in group stage play would give the Americans their best chance of a top-two seed in the round of 16 and, in theory, an easier matchup in the quarterfinals.
“That’s not the goal,” U.S. forward Anthony Davis said of reaching the quarterfinals. “It gives us a sense of satisfaction that we can play next week. we can clean up and we’ll use Saturday’s game against Puerto Rico to tighten the screws again and see where it takes us from there.
South Sudan ends group stage game against Serbia on Saturday, a game that has knockout stage implications for both teams. The quarter-final draw will be held on Saturday night, and all four quarter-final games will be played on Tuesday in Paris.
“We knew it wouldn’t be an easy task,” Jones said. “Our spirit is still positive.”
South Sudan coach Royal Ivey compared her life for a film after his team won the Olympic debut over Puerto Rico, and understandably so. The story of their team – from the youngest country in the world, a group that overcame absurd odds just to reach the Paris Games – is a quintessential Olympic story, one that will be talked about for years whether the African nation wins another game in France or not. .
That said, if you almost beat the Americans in London on July 20th in an exhibition – the 101-100 game where James had to rescue the US in the end – it was a movie, so this was the sequel.
In the world of cinema, sequels are often not as good as the originals. That’s what happened on Wednesday.
The first few minutes after the opening credits weren’t bad – South Sudan led 7-6 and 10-8 – but the plot quickly became predictable. Durant made a 3-pointer with about a minute left in the first quarter for the first double-digit lead, Adebayo scored from inside with 8:42 left in the half to cap what was a 25-game run. 4, the Americans had a 33 -14 lead and there wasn’t much drama the rest of the way.
“They’re a talented team,” said All-American guard Stephen Curry. “On any given night, they can beat anyone.”
South Sudan cut the lead to 10 in the third, but the U.S. took a 73-57 lead into the final 10 minutes.
Most of the drama, such as it was, happened before the game anyway. US coach Steve Kerr changed his starting lineup, placing Davis and Jayson Tatum in and out of Jrue Holiday and Joel Embiid. Embiid did not play, while Tyrese Haliburton got his first playing time of the Olympics as the U.S. rotated 11 players in the first half and took a 55-36 halftime lead.
South Sudan outscored the USA by two points in the second half, but that mattered little in the end.
“We have 12 guys who are capable of dominating,” Kerr said. “Every night will be a little different. But we like our chances with the number of great players we have in our squad.”
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