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You remember 10 days ago when the United States men’s basketball team played South Sudan in an exhibition game? South Sudan, the world’s youngest country, put a real scare into the Americans with an inspired effort before LeBron James bailed Team USA out in a 101-100 victory.
It was fair to wonder what direction each team was headed.
Well, that was then. This is the Olympics.
The Americans are rounding into form, at least based on their South Sudan rematch Wednesday, vastly improved over the last week and a half. The Americans used a 30-9 first-half run to bust open the game and cruise to victory, 103-86.
Bam Adebayo had 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting on a night where he was repeatedly fed easy dunks as South Sudan tried to cover everyone else. Maybe only Snoop Dogg is having more fun at these Olympics than Bam.
Kevin Durant added 14 and LeBron James had 12 more. Every American played and scored except Joel Embiid, who took this night off. Steph Curry started 0-for-7 from the field. Not that it mattered.
This was textbook stuff; the U.S. had 29 assists on 37 baskets.
The U.S. is now 2-0 in Group play and next will take on Puerto Rico on Saturday (11:15 a.m. ET) before heading into the knockout rounds.
This was no contest and it was more about how the Americans played than how the up-and-coming program from East Africa did. The U.S. was inspired defensively and showed a passion for passing that just overwhelmed South Sudan.
The U.S. led 55-36 at the half and had assists on 17 of its 19 field goals. The Americans ended up shooting 53 percent overall and 43 percent from 3. Eleven different players scored.
South Sudan, a program developed and run by former NBA star Luol Deng, continued to play hard throughout as it may need point differential to get out of Group play. However, anytime they made a run in the fourth quarter, some American would step up and shut it down.
A Kevin Durant 3-pointer. A Devin Booker drive and score. A beautiful Durant bounce pass to a slashing Anthony Davis for a dunk.
Canada. France. Germany. There is real competition here as the Americans seek a fifth consecutive gold medal, but probably no one is beating them if they are going to play like this.