When Team USA took on South Sudan during their round of exhibition games, it was thought to be the easiest of the bunch. But after a spirited effort from the African nation, it took a LeBron James late layup for the Americans to escape with a one-point win. Now, they will look to erase that memory and put forth another dominant performance in group play.
LeBron and Kevin Durant will look to build off their outstanding performance in their Olympic opener when they take on South Sudan. Like Team USA, South Sudan also won their group play opener with an impressive 11-point victory over Puerto Rico, the first ever Olympic victory for the country and both teams sit atop Group C.
In that exhibition contest, Team USA struggled from 3-point range while also struggling with turnovers, an ongoing issue for them. The shooting wasn’t an issue against Serbia as they knocked down a ridiculous 18-of-32 from deep, though they did still commit 17 turnovers, with six coming from LeBron himself.
This is something they will have to be mindful of as South Sudan thrives on the defensive end with their length and athleticism on the perimeter. They held Puerto Rico to just 38.6% shooting in that opening victory, but in order to pull off an upset against Team USA, they will have to replicate their hot 3-point shooting from the exhibition contest.
The difference now, of course, is that Durant is back and his presence just makes containing Team USA nearly impossible. Anthony Davis has continued to be invaluable off the bench and the American bigs must be locked in overall as South Sudan dominated Puerto Rico on the glass. With Davis, Joel Embiid and Bam Adebayo, that shouldn’t be the case for Team USA, but if they aren’t focused, they could take advantage.
There will also be plenty of eyes on the rotation of Team USA coach Steve Kerr after Jayson Tatum didn’t see the court against Serbia. With South Sudan being more perimeter oriented, this could be a game where the Celtics star is utilized to a much greater degree, and who would move out of the rotation then?
South Sudan’s Carlik Jones has been one of the best stories of the Olympic basketball tournament and he had a triple-double in that exhibition contest. But that close call was probably the best thing that could’ve happened to Team USA. South Sudan will give maximum effort, but after barely escaping a couple of weeks ago, the Americans should be looking to send a message.
Team USA (1-0) vs. South Sudan (1-0)
12:00 p.m. PT, July 31, 2024
Pierre Mauroy Stadium, Lille, France
TV: NBC, Peacock TV
Projected Team USA Starting Lineup:
PG: Stephen Curry
SG: Jrue Holiday
SF: Devin Booker
PF: LeBron James
C: Joel Embiid
Key Reserves: Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis, Anthony Edwards, Jayson Tatum, Bam Adebayo
Projected South Sudan Starting Lineup:
PG: Carlik Jones
SG: Marial Shayok
SF: Bul Kuol
PF: Wenyen Gabriel
C: Nuni Omot
Key Reserves: JT Thor, Majok Deng, Peter Jok, Khaman Maluach