Bam Adebayo scored 18 points and Kevin Durant added 14 to lift the United States to a 103-86 victory over South Sudan on Wednesday in a Group C game in Lille, France.
Adebayo made his first six shots from the floor and added seven rebounds for the Americans (2-0), who punched their ticket to the quarterfinals. They overcame a 24-point performance from Nuni Omut and cruised to a convincing victory in their rematch versus South Sudan (1-1).
The United States had a much more difficult time against South Sudan in an exhibition game on July 20 in London, needing LeBron James’ late layup to escape with a 101-100 win.
The Americans weren’t tested as much on Wednesday, due in large part to their sharp shooting. They shot a robust 52.9 percent from the floor — including 43.3 percent from 3-point range.
Anthony Edwards scored 13 points, James had 12 and Devin Booker and Derrick White each added 10. Eleven players scored at least one basket while Joel Embiid sat out for Team USA.
The United States will look to remain hot on Saturday against Puerto Rico (0-2), which dropped a 107-66 decision to Serbia earlier on Wednesday. Three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic collected 14 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists to pace Serbia (1-1).
Team USA benefited from a stifling defensive effort to claim a 26-14 lead after the first quarter. Adebayo sandwiched dunks around a 3-pointer from Durant to begin the second. Tyrese Haliburton and Adebayo each connected twice from beyond the arc to push the Americans’ advantage to 53-33 later in the quarter.
Jayson Tatum’s dunk pushed the United States’ lead to 57-36 before Bul Kuol made a pair of 3-pointers and Omut and JT Thor also connected from deep as part of 16-4 run by South Sudan.
White halted that surge with a 3-pointer, and Edwards scored six straight points before Adebayo added an emphatic dunk to push the Americans’ advantage to 73-54 late in the third quarter.
South Sudan scored eight straight points to trim its deficit to 11 points at 77-66. Durant answered with a 3-pointer to ignite a 10-2 run to effectively put the game on ice.
–Field Level Media
