Men’s and women’s basketball group play continued Saturday at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, and with the knockout stages on the horizon, multiple teams were fighting for their Olympic lives.
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Kevin Durant scored 17 points after he took just four shots in the previous game, the Americans’ 94-91 victory over Serbia on Friday.
The game was easily the most exciting contest so far for the United States.
Three wins from gold, and still no reason to think it will be easy for the USA men’s basketball team.
Still, the USA maintains first-place in the group and joins Group B leader Lithuania as the only ideal 3-0 teams in Brazil.
The United States finishes pool play with a 1:15 p.m. game Sunday against France.
Australia had Andrew Bogut and Aron Baynes; Serbia had Nikola Jokic (who looks like he’s going to be a really good National Basketball Association player) and Miroslav Raduljica, all of whom outplayed their American counterparts.
Sonja Petrovic led the way for Serbia with 20 points, eight rebounds and six assists, while Ana Dabovic was the game’s leading scorer with 23 points.
For the rest of this tournament, no one will lie down for Team USA. The victory was the Americans’ 45th straight in the Olympics.
A look at the last two offensive possessions showed that the U.S.is lacking chemistry in half-court offense.
“As good as we are, if we continue to keep playing like this, these games are going to be even tougher”, said forward Paul George, who had 12 points against Serbia. They won their opening game against Team Venezuela 86-62, but have lost two in a row since. Their opponent, this time, was against the Serbian national team.
However, the Serbs are coming off a hard 76-75 last-minute loss to France, and USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski praised the squad’s coaching as well as its roster.
“I think other teams are dictating the tempo”.
Bogdanovic missed, but the message was clear: Team USA is not playing like the gold medal-favorite, NBA All-Star-packed team that they are. “It’s more so about how they run their offense that’s wearing us down. We needed to be in a real game and see who we are”.
With an expected win over Venezuela on Sunday, the relieved Aussies look set to avoid the U.S. in the medal round until the final, if they get that far.
“At times we get lazy because we”re so athletic and we got so many guys that can do multiple things that we don”t talk the way we”re supposed to,” guard Jimmy Butler said.
Kyrie Irving scored 15 points and Durant and Carmelo Anthony had 12 apiece for the USA team, which arrived in South American lauded as the latest version of an American super squad. Serbia center Nikola Jokic, who also plays for the Denver Nuggets, scored 25 points on 11-of-15 shooting.
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Despite the underwhelming performances, the USA (4-0) remains the only undefeated opponent in Group A and are certain to advance to the quarterfinal, regardless of what happens in the next game against Tony Parker and France.
