Klay Thompson, who came off the bench for the second-straight contest, sank his first shot of the game, a corner three-pointer with 5:00 remaining in the opening frame, increasing the U.S. Men’s National Team’s lead to 17-5.
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Serbia had a chance to tie the game with 5.2 seconds remaining, down by three, but Bogdan Bogdanovic missed his mark and U.S. secured the rebound as time expired.
The tireless Serbs began to wear down the Americans in the second half with their ball movement and with less than a minute to play trailed by three and were in position to pull off the biggest upset of the tournament.
Despite the USA racing out to a 23-5 lead in the first quarter, Serbia was steadfast in chipping away at the lead and exposed multiple issues of concern going forward for the U.S.
The American stars saw off a spirited challenge for the second straight game, two days after Australia hung with them for much of a match that the U.S. eventually took by 10 points.
The Serbians (1-2) are coming off a one-point loss to France on a late Tony Parker basket, and they lost by 15 points to Australia after opening the Olympics with a 24-point rout of Venezuela.
Team USA will try to move to 4-0 against Team Serbia to keep their lead in Group A.
After winning the first two games by a combined 101 points, the USA has been tested in the past two games. “With a win in the final preliminary game, or a loss by Australia to winless Venezuela, the USA will finish first in Group A heading into Wednesday”s quarterfinals.
But Serbian big men Nikola Jokic – the only team member to earn a living in the National Basketball Association – and Miroslav Raduljica brought the underdogs back as the Serbian offence kept finding ways to penetrate.
US came away with the win, but the most impressive player on the court on Friday was Serbia’s Nikola Jovic.
However, the Serbs are coming off a hard 76-75 last-minute loss to France, and US head coach Mike Krzyzewski praised the squad’s coaching as well as its roster. These teams are figuring out ways to execute down the stretch.
If the US stays in its current malaise, it may be in for an even bigger fright in the knockout rounds. “I think it also gave us kind of a feel of what a medal-round game would be like”.
Paul George said Serbia’s systematic offense was unlike anything he and his teammates have faced. France hasn’t played as good as they have looked on paper this series. Jokic led Serbia in scoring, netting 25 points, including two three-pointers, to go along with six rebounds and three assists.
They look beatable, and the world knows it.
U.S. guard Paul George admitted that the high-priced American talent – who only began playing as a unit a few weeks ago – were still adjusting to worldwide play. I mean Andrew Bogut is the best player on that team.
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Australia never flinched. Serbia had a shot to tie. For almost 10 minutes, the Americans held Canada without a basket and slowly extended their advantage.
