In the repechage, the US had an easier time with South Sudan than when the teams first met a few weeks ago.
Easier. Not easy.
The U.S. secured a trip to the quarterfinals at the Paris Olympics by beating South Sudan 103-86 on Wednesday night — a game that was never really in doubt, but wasn’t much of a spectacle either. Bam Adebayo scored 18 points and Kevin Durant added 14 for the Americans, who took control with a 25-4 first-half run.
Anthony Edwards scored 13 and LeBron James scored 12 for the U.S. Nuni Omot led South Sudan with 21 points, while Carlik Jones scored 18 and Bul Kuol added 16.
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The win secured the U.S. a knockout-round berth and the No. 1 spot in Group C, joining Canada, France and Germany in the quarterfinals. Seven teams remain alive for the other four quarterfinal spots; only Puerto Rico, which plays the Americans on Saturday, has been eliminated from advancing.
That said, Saturday’s matchup — the first between Puerto Rico and the U.S. at the Olympics since an embarrassing 92-73 loss in Athens 20 years ago — isn’t meaningless for the U.S. A 3-0 record in the group stage would give the Americans their best shot at a top-two seed for the knockout round and, in theory, an easier matchup in the quarterfinals.
South Sudan close out the group stage against Serbia on Saturday, a match that will have serious knockout stage implications for both teams. The quarter-final draw takes place on Saturday night, with all four quarter-finals being played in Paris on Tuesday.
South Sudanese coach Royal Ivey compared his life to a movie after his team won their opening Olympic match against Puerto Rico, and understandably so. His team’s story – the youngest nation in the world, a group that overcame absurd odds to reach the Paris Games – is a quintessential Olympic story, one that will be talked about for years to come, whether or not the African nation wins another match in France.
That said, if nearly beating the Americans in London on July 20 in an exhibition game – the 101-100 game that had James bailing the US out at the end – was a movie, this was the sequel.
In the movie business, sequels are often not as good as the originals. That was the case on Wednesday.
The first few minutes after the opening credits weren’t bad – South Sudan led 7-6, 10-8 – but the plot quickly became predictable. Durant made a 3-pointer with about a minute left in the first quarter for its first double-digit lead, Adebayo scored with 8:42 left in the half to cap a 25-4 run, the Americans held a 33-14 lead, and there wasn’t much drama the rest of the way.
South Sudan cut the lead to 10 in the third period, but the US entered the final 10 minutes with a 73-57 lead.
Most of the drama, to the extent that it existed, happened before the game anyway. U.S. coach Steve Kerr changed his starting lineup, bringing in Anthony Davis and Jayson Tatum and pulling Jrue Holiday and Joel Embiid. Embiid didn’t play at all, while Tyrese Haliburton got his first playing time of the Olympics as the U.S. went to an 11-man rotation for the first half and went into halftime up 55-36.