LILLE, France — Maybe in the not-too-distant future, once they’ve convinced more kids in the young country to surrender soccer for basketball, South Sudan will draw sweat from the best basketball country in the world.
Like, in a real international game, not an exhibition, as it did a week ago.
Because what happened Wednesday was a meeting with Team USA and an understanding of the measuring stick — as in, the distance between an established power and an upstart.
It wasn’t suspenseful or close or competitive except for brief stretches. Such is the case when the USA is bringing unapologetic defense, a determined LeBron James and so much, much more.
Like: This team is bringing the all-time USA Olympic scorer, Kevin Durant, off the bench.
And: This team can beat you with Steph Curry going zip-for-6 on 3-pointers.
Such is the luxury for the Americans, who won for the second straight game and clinched a trip to the quarterfinals at the Paris Olympics without breaking a sweat.
Here are Five Takeaways from Team USA’s muscle-flexing 103-86 victory over South Sudan, when they told yet another country with big dreams to go back to sleep:
1. Tatum up, Embiid down
One game after sitting a first-team All-NBA player and freshly minted NBA champion, coach Steve Kerr sat an MVP and one of the world’s most dominant interior big men.
So: Will there be the same stir from the basketball world for Joel Embiid as it was for Jayson Tatum in the Olympic opener?
As Kerr stated and repeated, since training camp three weeks ago, he’ll shuffle the lineup, starting and otherwise, depending on the opponent. And someone, even as talented as Tatum and Embiid, won’t get much playing time, if any at all.
“That’s how we’re going to do this,” said Kerr. “Whatever we need to do to win, that’s what we’re going to do … just win a damn gold medal. Every opponent is different. We’ve got options for everything, and we’re going to use those options.”
So against the quicker, smaller South Sudanese, Embiid was a bad fit and Tatum went from not playing to starting — although he didn’t exactly distinguish himself. LeBron tried to set him up on a backdoor cut with the game’s first possession and it was a turnover. Tatum’s first shot hit the side of the backboard, his second a missed tip-in. He finished with four points.
Tyrese Haliburton, who also saw his first Olympic minutes, scored his first Olympic points before Tatum. And unlike Tatum, Haliburton did pregame and halftime warmups against Serbia knowing he wasn’t playing, while Tatum went from locker room straight to the bench. It’s the little things.
Anyway, Tatum said: “It’s not about one individual. The competitor in you wants to play, but I’m not here to make it a story, make it about myself. We won. I was glad to get back out here and play. I was in good spirits, good attitude about it. It was learning experience. You just move on.”
And his advice for Embiid or anyone else who finds themselves a spectator?
“Expect the unexpected,” he said. “You never know when you’re going to be out there.”
2. Curry stuck on simmer
No need for alarm or jump to any conclusions, because Team USA just strung together a pair of blowout wins and, bottom line, they haven’t needed much from him.
Still: Steph Curry is still waiting for both his signature Olympic moment and performance.
It really didn’t happen against Serbia, when he was mild, and it never happened Wednesday when … well, who had Bam Adebayo making more 3-pointers (two) than Curry (zero)?
Or: Haliburton, who played seven sparse minutes, getting twice as many baskets as Curry (one)?
The only odd scene in a USA romp Wednesday was Curry struggling with his shot. He missed eight of nine which, again, meant nothing to the bottom line. Still, his first taste of the Olympics looks like … an Olympic rookie.
“He just had a tough night,” said Kerr. “I’ve seen him have tough nights before, and saw him get 40 the next night. (International basketball) is a little different. It’s not the NBA. It’s a 40 minute game, you’re playing fewer minutes and getting fewer shots. We need to turn the page on anything NBA related.”
And it bears repeating: No Curry flurry, no issue.
“It’s good to have a versatile group,” said Durant. “We got guys that scored a lot of points in this league. When those guys aren’t scoring, with what we’re doing defensively, we don’t even need that.”
In the last four games, including two exhibitions, Curry is 7-for-29 from deep.
3. Sixth man (subject to change) fits KD
For the next game, against Puerto Rico, Kerr said he’ll revert back to the unit that started against Serbia.
And this: Durant will come off the bench. Again.
That means for three games, and the only such three games of his superb Olympic career, Durant will run with the reserves. And he didn’t express any unhappiness about that. If anything, Durant seems to like Kerr’s way of approaching these games.
“Whatever he needs from me,” Durant said.
What’s remarkable about Durant’s basketball career, aside from the elite shooting touch from anywhere on the floor, is his adaptability. He can play next to stars (Curry, Russell Westbrook, Kyrie Irving, Devin Booker) and in different systems.
Coming off the bench? Well, he followed up a 23-point performance (in 17 minutes) against Serbia with 14 in 21 minutes against South Sudan. Why fix what isn’t broken?
4. Adebayo unleashed
Speaking of the bench: Anthony Davis and Adebayo were a desirable bench duo, because of their defense, for much of the exhibition games and also against Serbia. But with Davis elevated to the starting lineup for South Sudan, Adebayo was on his own.
And for long stretches, he was the best player on the floor, impacting both ends — a team-leading 18 points with seven rebounds. Once again, Adebayo is showing more confidence with his 3-point shot as well.
Just two seasons ago he attempted six from that distance for the Heat. He was 2-for-3 against South Sudan.
“When he’s knocking down that shot, our team goes to the next level,” said Durant. “He’s also playing around the rim as well, mixed it up.”
5. Defense and depth rules
All told, the Americans won this game because of 13 steals and seven blocked shots which kept South Sudan in check, which wasn’t the case a week ago in a one-point, LeBron-saved-us exhibition victory.
Start with Booker’s defense on Carlik Jones, whose quickness and clever play was a problem in the earlier meeting. Jones was a non-factor early in the game, when the rout was put in place.
And the depth — unreal, again.
“It’s a pretty potent group when you come off the bench with Bam, Kevin, Derrick White,” said Kerr. “The beauty of USA basketball is we have more great players than the other countries. We can lean on all those great players depending on matchups and how we want to play. Every single guy is capable of taking over a game.”
And so, when a Tatum or Embiid sit for strategic reasons, nobody really notices (except fans of those players).
“With the amount of talent, IQ and skill we have,” said Durant, “We can mix and match. We got guys that stepped up and filled those roles perfectly.
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Shaun Powell has covered the NBA for more than 25 years. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on X.
The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA, its clubs or Warner Bros. Discovery.
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