The games were played on the second day of the tournament in Lille, France
South Sudan triumphs in Olympic debut; USA blasts Serbia
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South Sudan was victorious in its first-ever game at the Olympic basketball tournament, defeating Puerto Rico 90-79.
Tremont Waters drained a pair of three-pointers as Puerto Rico jumped out to a 0-8 lead. After a South Sudan used a timeout, Nuni Omot scored his first points with free throws. The pace quickened with baskets falling at both ends as a Carlik Jones jumper narrowed the gap to 14-17 midway through the opening quarter. Puerto Rico regrouped behind Jose Alvarado to lead 20-28 after 10 minutes. South Sudan opened the second quarter on an 8-0 run to tie the game on a Peter Jok layup. Puerto Rico heated up to lead by as much as 31-40 and the score settled at 48-54 at the halftime break.
South Sudan came out of the locker room for the second half with more energy – with Wenyen Gabriel of Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv making plays at both ends – and scored the first 11 points. A three by Omot gave South Sudan its first lead, 56-54. A pair of threes by Bul Kuol made it 62-56. The margin grew to 8 before Dreamland Gran Canaria center George Conditt scored 6 quick points, including a jaw-dropping dunk, to rally Puerto Rico within 71-69 at the end of the third quarter. The physicality of the game picked up in the final frame as South Sudan restored a comfortable lead, which reached 83-73 on JT Thor free throws with less than 4 minutes remaining. And Puerto Rico was unable to threaten again.
The key stats for the game were South Sudan’s 55-37 rebounding advantage, which included a 24-2 different in second-chance points. Jones, who has been linked to Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade for next season, led South Sudan with 19 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists. Former Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul player Marial Shayok added 15 points, Omot and Kuol netted 12 each and Gabriel collected 9 rebounds and blocked 2 shots.
Alvarado, who injured his leg in the final seconds of the second quarter after scoring 19 first-half points, finished with 26 points. Waters added 18 points an Conditt posted 13 points and 6 rebounds in defeat.
USA overpowers Serbia
The United States of America blasted Serbia 84-110 in the afternoon game on Sunday behind 23 points on near-perfect shooting by Kevin Durant in less than 17 minutes. LeBron James posted 21 points, 7 rebounds and 9 assists and Jrue Holliday added 15 points for the winners. Nikola Jokic paced Serbia with 20 points, 8 assists and 4 steals, Bogdan Boganovic netted 14 points, Ognjen Dobric of Crvena Zvezda Merdianbet Belgrade had 13 and former EuroLeague MVP Vasa Micic 11.
Aleksa Avramovic scored the game’s first two baskets as Serbia set the tone. Dobric’s steal and layup made it 10-2 and prompted an early timeout by the Americans. Threes by Devin Booker got USA back on track and James gave them their first lead, 12-14. Four different players scored for Serbia in an 8-0 run before USA answered with 3 straight three-pointers to lead 20-25 after 10 minutes. Durant heated up to keep USA in control and Serbia called timeout when it fell behind 23-32. After the margin reached double figures, Jokic stepped up for Serbia to bring his side within 36-40. Durrant completed a perfect shooting half with a jumper on the buzzer to make it 49-58 at the break.
USA scored the first 5 points of the second half, but Serbia refused to go away and a Dobric floater made it 57-65. However, when the Americans scored 6 straight points to end the third quarter, the margin was 65-84. Bam Adebayo’s dunk pushed the lead into the 20s at the start of the fourth quarter. Jokic and Micic led a final Serbia push to get within 73-86, but USA took over after that and raced to the victory.