The vaunted U.S. basketball squad survived a last-second scare from Serbia on Friday, August 12, to win, 94-91, in a Rio Olympics contest that exposed the Americans’ potential vulnerability for a second straight game.
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Serbia fought back within three points late in the fourth quarter, but the U.S. held them off for a 94-91 win.
Serbia had a chance to tie the game with 5.2 seconds remaining, down by three, but Bogdan Bogdanovic missed the mark on a 3-point attempt and the US secured the rebound as time expired. Shrugging off the slow starts off the first three games and the defensive breakdowns of the Australia near-miss, the Americans produced more oohs and aahs in the first quarter against Serbia than they had their entire time in Brazil.
The game also marks a rematch of the 2014 FIBA World Cup final, which the US won 129-92 behind current starting point guard Kyrie Irving’s 23 points and team World Cup-record 6-for-6 shooting from three-point range. Team USA lead the game by as many as 18 points, but Serbia would not go away quietly. Instead of being motivated by a closer than necessary game against Australia Team, the Americans laid another egg.
The Americans (4-0) had been scoring at a record pace, topping 100 points in each of their first three contests – the first time a team’s done that at the Olympics.
Kyrie Irving scored 15 points and Durant and Carmelo Anthony had 12 apiece for the US team, which arrived in Brazil being lauded as another American super squad and gold-medal lock.
Coming off Wednesday’s 98-88 win over Australia, the United States appeared to have learned their lesson as they got off to a fast start against Serbia.
While Carmelo Anthony has been the solid leader that the team expected and with the 31-point performance moved into the top spot among US scorers all-time, not everyone has played up to expectations. Team USA is just too naturally gifted for this Olympic field.
Guard Bogdan Bogdanovic paced the Serbs with 19 points while Nikola Kalinic added 15. France, which just beat Serbia, is next.
Three straight slam-dunks, two on alley-oops by USA centre DeAndre Jordan, made it 23-5 late in the first period, and it appeared National Basketball Association showtime had started.
But now there’s a proven formula to beat the USA, or at least give it a scare. It’s interesting how Serbia will capitalize on their size advantage after Australia already exposed USA’s weakness in the interior.
United States of America coach Mike Krzyzewski called Jokic “spectacular”. France hasn’t played as good as they have looked on paper this series. The Clippers center rebounded from a game when he scored only four points.
To answer the initial question, Kevin Durant and team US are fine for the moment but they will need to play better or they can be knocked off by France or Spain. “We played them in the World Cup two years ago for the championship. It’s a different game for us”.
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No nation faces a more daunting task than fourth-seeded Japan, who will try to end the Americans’ 46-game Olympic winning run that dates back to the 1992 Barcelona Games.
