USA Men's Basketball beats Serbia to kick off Olympic campaign

    Written by: William Petersen •

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    USA Men's Basketball

    The United States Men’s Basketball team made their 2024 Olympic debut yesterday as they opened up their quest to defend their gold medal against reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic and Serbia. Team USA got off to a slow start to their standards in their two “tune up” games against South Sudan and Germany last week, but seemed to shake the rust and growing pains of finding chemistry amongst the lineup. Head coach Steve Kerr stuck to his guns in the US’s 110-84 win on Sunday, with Kevin Durant coming off the bench and dominating, filling the storylines across the US and basketball world. Kevin Durant played the sixth man role against Serbia which seemed to be no problem for the two-time NBA Champion as he went a near perfect from the floor recording a game high 23 points on 8-9 shooting and 5-5 from beyond the three point arc. Durant provided a spark off the bench for a USA team that had some trouble dealing with Nikola Jokic in the first half.

    The three-time MVP and NBA Champion Nikola Jokic is the premier player on the Serbian Men’s National Team and arguably one of the top three players in the entire olympics. Jokic finished with 20 points, 8 assists, and 5 rebounds on 8-15 shooting, but struggled from three shooting 1-6. Although Jokic only had 20 points, his ball distribution and domination of Joel Embiid in the paint was a major focal point in this game. Embiid continues to play poorly in his Olympic debut after finishing with only four points and two rebounds. Jokic has always had Embiid’s number and this trend will continue into the upcoming NBA season after Jokic continues to show the world why he is considered the best player in the NBA right now.

    With South Sudan on the horizon from Team USA next, many will wonder how the roster will respond after only beating the youngest country in the world by only one last week. The biggest question surrounding the strategy with this South Sudan team was if Jayson Tatum was going to see the floor at all after not checking in once during their win over Serbia. Steve Kerr spoke out earlier today stating that Tatum will be back in the lineup to face South Sudan on Wednesday, July 31st at 3 PM ET. All eyes will be on Tatum to see what he does with his opportunities as well as if Kevin Durant can continue to stay hot and provide sparks off the bench, if he continues to play the sixth man role. LeBron James may be the only player on this USA roster that is solidified in his role after nearly posting a triple-double as well as continuing to beat father time by not letting his age affect his pace of play. James is playing in his fourth Olympics and his first since 2012 and looks like he wants to taste gold for the final time as this should certainly be his last tournament for Team USA. We will see how the US adjusts to the pace and efficient three-point shooting of South Sudan but if Kevin Durant continues to shoot the ball at this clip I have a hard time South Sudan will be within striking distance in the second half let alone late in the fourth quarter.

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