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• United States v. South Sudan: The score of the box
LeBron James saved the United States from what would have been a crushing defeat.
James’ layup with 8 seconds left The basket was the deciding factor Saturday, and the soon-to-be-headed U.S. Olympic team cruised to a 101-100 victory over South Sudan in London, rallying from a 16-point deficit to avoid perhaps the biggest upset in program history.
South Sudan, an African nation that gained independence just 13 years ago and is about to compete in the Olympics for the first time, led for more than half the game and had a chance to win at the end. But Carlik Jones’ basket missed the mark with about 4 seconds left, and the Americans survived.
“I’ll be honest: I prefer this to blowouts,” James said as he left the field. “At least we’re tested.”
LEBRON JAMES WINS IT FOR #USABMNT ‼️ pic.twitter.com/IHdQBZVB87
— NBA (@NBA) July 20, 2024
Oh, they were tested – by a team that came into the game with a 43.5-point leadaccording to BetMGM Sportsbook.
“It reminds us that when we play teams, it’s the most important game of their lives,” U.S. coach Steve Kerr said. “We have to expect everyone to play like that.”
Trailing by 16 points at one point, the Americans dug themselves out of that hole with an 18-0 second-half run, and needed a heroic act at the end. JT Thor’s three-pointer with 20 seconds left gave South Sudan a 100-99 lead, then the Americans called a timeout and put the ball in James’ hands.
He made it look easy: He waited, waited, waited, and then he stepped up and doubled down with ease to put the United States back on top, and the Americans got the save they needed in the end.
James finished with 25 points, six rebounds and six assists for the United States, which improved to 4-0 with one game remaining — Monday against world champion Germany — on its pre-Olympic exhibition tour. Anthony Davis added 15 points for the Americans.
Marial Shayok led all scorers with 25 points for South Sudan and Jones had a triple-double – 15 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists.
The teams will meet in the group stage at the Paris Olympics on July 31.
“That’s basketball. It happens,” U.S. guard Stephen Curry said. “You want to play perfect every game, and it doesn’t happen. But can you reach deep inside yourself and do the little things that help you win? Offense can come and go, but defense is what helps you win championships, medals, all that.”
LeBron’s winning goal, Curry’s logo three-pointer, and LOTS of NBA stars ????…
Best of #USABMNTThe national team’s victory against South Sudan ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/iJFNk2HduU
— NBA (@NBA) July 20, 2024
It should have been a shift, and for the first half it was, but not in the way you might have expected.
The U.S. roster has 12 players, all All-Stars or NBA champions or both, who have scored 189,038 points in the regular season, with 7,832 cumulative starts. South Sudan has four players who have played in an NBA game. They have scored a total of 1,228 points and started 19 games.
No matter. The score was 8-0 for the USA after 2 1/2 minutes. The rest of the half: South Sudan 58, USA 34. The Americans allowed South Sudan to shoot 61% in the first half and were outshot 21-3 from three-point range in the first 20 minutes.
“I didn’t do a great job preparing our team,” Kerr said. “We didn’t think enough about what they were capable of, and that’s my fault. I think that really gave South Sudan confidence early on. … They were great. They played a great game and the end was good for us, just to feel it, to feel what it’s going to be like in Paris and Lille.”
An 18-0 second-half run, in which James was largely involved, was what really saved the United States, turning a 76-65 deficit into an 83-76 lead.
South Sudan led by 16 points at the end of the first half (58-42) before the Americans scored the final basket to reduce the deficit to 14 points at the break.
But the 18-0 run was decisive. James made four assists during the stretch and Curry, from about 10 yards out, hit a three-pointer late in the third quarter that gave the United States its first lead since the first quarter (79-76).
Wenyen Gabriel hit a three-pointer to pull South Sudan within 85-84, but James, his former teammate with the Los Angeles Lakers, hit a three-pointer on the ensuing American possession, and the Americans eventually came away with a narrow victory.
Davis said the team arrived late to the arena, destabilized by London traffic, and pre-game routines were disrupted. Perhaps, but South Sudan showed the United States that no one at the Olympics is going to concede anything to the reigning four-time gold medalists.
“No matter how close the game was,” James said. “We went out there to get better.”
