In the rematch, the US had an easier time with South Sudan than they did when the teams first met a couple of weeks ago.
Easier. Not easy.
The US clinched a trip to the quarter-finals at the Paris Olympics by beating South Sudan 103-86 on Wednesday night – a game that wasn’t ever really in doubt but was no romp either. Bam Adebayo scored 18 points and Kevin Durant scored 14 for the Americans, who took control with a 25-4 run in the first half.
Anthony Edwards scored 13 and LeBron James scored 12 for the US. Nuni Omot led South Sudan with 21 points, while Carlik Jones scored 18 and Bul Kuol added 16.
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The win locked up a knockout-round berth and the No 1 seed out of Group C for the US, who joined Canada, France and Germany in the quarter-finals. There are seven teams still alive for the other four quarter-final spots; only Puerto Rico, which faces the Americans on Saturday, have been eliminated from contention to advance.
That said, Saturday’s game – the first between Puerto Rico and the US at the Olympics since an embarrassing 92-73 loss in Athens 20 years ago – isn’t meaningless for the US. A 3-0 record in group play would give the Americans their best chance at a top-two seed for the knockout round and, in theory, an easier matchup in the quarter-finals.
South Sudan finishes group play against Serbia on Saturday, a game that’ll have serious knockout-stage implications for both teams. The draw for the quarter-finals will be held Saturday night, and all four quarter-final games will be played on Tuesday in Paris.
South Sudan coach Royal Ivey likened his life to a movie after his team won their Olympic opener over Puerto Rico, and understandably so. The story of his team – from the youngest country in the world, a group that overcame absurd odds just to get to the Paris Games – is a quintessential Olympic one, one that will be talked about for years whether the African nation wins another game in France or not.
That said, if nearly beating the Americans in London on 20 July in an exhibition – the 101-100 game where James had to bail out the US at the end – was a movie, then this was the sequel.
In the movie world, sequels often aren’t as good as the originals. Such was the case on Wednesday.
The first few minutes after the opening credits weren’t bad – South Sudan led 7-6 and 10-8 – but the plot got predictable quickly. Durant made a 3-pointer with about a minute to go in the opening quarter for the first double-digit lead, Adebayo scored inside with 8:42 left in the half to cap a 25-4 run, the Americans had a 33-14 lead and there wasn’t a ton of drama the rest of the way.
South Sudan cut the lead to 10 in the third, but the US took a 73-57 edge into the final 10 minutes.
Most of the drama, such as it was, happened pregame anyway. US coach Steve Kerr changed his starting lineup, putting Anthony Davis and Jayson Tatum in, taking Jrue Holiday and Joel Embiid out. Embiid didn’t play at all, while Tyrese Haliburton got his first playing time of the Olympics as the US went to an 11-man rotation for the first half and took a 55-36 lead into the break.
