Stephen Curry leads with 24 points as Team USA beat Nikola Jokic and Serbia in a showcase game. Curry was somewhat quiet offensively during the U.S Olympic team’s first two exhibitions before the Paris Games.
He became more assertive on Wednesday with his official Olympic debit less than two weeks away. Curry scored 24 points, Bam Adebayo contributed 17 and Team USA beat Serbia 105-79 to boost 3-0 in its five-game slate of exhibitions ahead of the Paris Olympics.
A team full of stars making highlight plays from tip to buzzer… the BEST of @usabasketball from their Showcase win against Serbia
— NBA (@NBA) July 17, 2024pic.twitter.com/VtrHKZHnIB
Anthony Davis finished with seven points, six rebounds and six blocks, leading the U.S. defensive effort that stunted Serbia throughout the game. Anthony Edwards scored 16 points. LeBron James added 11.
Team USA led by as much as 31 points in the last of a pair of warm up matches in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The American team now travels to London to play two more matches before heading to France for the Olympics. The first will be on Saturday against South Sudan, followed by a matchup with Germany on Monday at London’s O2 Arena.
The U.S. first had an uneven start before using a 16-2 run in the second quarter to take a 56-42 advantage and led 59-45 at halftime.
The Serbian basketball team was propped up by performances of some of its star players. Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic scored 16 points and 11 rebounds for Serbia. Aleska Avramovic added 14 points. Serbia was appearing for its second match in two days, after losing to Australia on Tuesday where it rested captain Bogdab Bogdanovic.
Wednesday’s game was a pivotal preview for the Serbians and Team U.S.A, which will both feature in Group C at the Olympics. They begin their battle for gold against each other on July 28th.
After almost blowing a huge lead in its slim win over Australia on Monday, Team U.S.A was lucky enough to avoid that type of performance this time. They led by 25 after three quarters and rapidly increased that number to 30 in the final quarter.
