The United States men’s basketball team has had a rough couple of games in their last two go-arounds, and Sunday afternoon was no different, as they defeated France by a narrow score of 100-97.
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France kept it close early and was down by only nine points at the half, 55-46, as they kept finding ways to get through the American defensive press. Moving forward, his playing time will be something to look out for. With just a three-point lead in the final score and the fact that their National Basketball Association buddy Parker did not play the whole game, qualms circulating around asking if team U.S. can really bring home the gold this time. There was clearly chemistry between Team USA’s second unit, as the ball moved frequently for the first time in almost two games. The team will have until Wednesday to do what they can to fix some of their shortcomings before their quarterfinal match. Durant was a ideal 4-of-4 from the field for nine points in the first quarter.
Klay Thompson drilled seven three-pointers in Team USA’s win. Thompson proved to be the hero against France with 30 points and seven threes after going 3-for-16 from beyond the arc in the first four games. He could have said it on Sunday, too, when the USA again almost coughed up a lead, giving a France a chance at a late comeback before sealing a 100-97 win.
On Sunday, it was another dicy performance for Team USA in Brazil.
“When we get on the court we can’t just watch them and be scared”. At the end of three quarters, Team USA led 81-69.
They included a Kevin Durant alley-oop dunk off a Kyrie Irving pass thrown as the Cleveland Cavaliers guard sprawled to the floor. The team addressed Paul George’s ball-movement complaints (35 field goals on 32 assists against France), but that’s not exactly the team’s most glaring issue.
Current NBA rotational big man Luis Scola and former NBA players Carlos Delfino and Andres Nocioni join Ginobili on a team that got crushed by Team USA, 111-74, during a five-city exhibition showcase last month. Coach K took a timeout with six minutes remaining to try to get Team USA back on track.
From here on out Olympic basketball enters a one-and-done tournament format – lose and you go home.
Chris Goulding led Australia with 22 points.
After close calls against Australia and Serbia, the heavily favoured Americans had their hands full again despite France resting star guard Tony Parker for the medal rounds. “We have to figure out how we’re going to be better”.
The streak: Make it 73 wins in a row and counting for Krzyzewski; 21 consecutive victories in Olympic play, 19 in FIBA World Cup tournaments, 10 in Olympic qualifiers and another 23 wins in exhibition games.
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Thompson went off in the third quarter, as he hit his seventh three-pointer on a ridiculously hard shot. But we’ve seen precious little progress from the Americans over these past three games, starting with the Australia scare. But America’s defensive underbelly remains exposed, with the next combatant-whoever finishes fourth in Group B-to be determined on Monday.
