Team USA men’s basketball cruises to win in rematch with South Sudan

After barely escaping with a one-point win against South Sudan in an exhibition this month, the U.S. had a much easier time Wednesday.

The U.S. cruised to a 103-86 win, moving to 2-0 in group play. South Sudan fell to 1-1 with the loss.

The U.S. led for the vast majority of the contest. After a little bit of back-and-forth action early, it took a lead with just under four minutes to go in the first quarter and would hold on to it for the rest of the night.

Bam Adebayo was the star. Coming off the bench, he scored 18 points on 8-for-10 shooting, draining two 3s and adding seven rebounds and two blocks for good measure. It was a balanced effort elsewhere, with five other players scoring in double digits.

It was a little bit of a different look for the U.S. compared with its opener against Serbia. In that game, Joel Embiid started at center, while Jayson Tatum notably never made it on the court. Against South Sudan, coach Steve Kerr started Anthony Davis in place of Embiid and Tatum in place of Jrue Holiday.

Embiid didn’t play at all, while Holiday was part of the bench group that included Adebayo, Kevin Durant, Derrick White and Anthony Edwards. Tyrese Haliburton also saw his first action of the Olympics, meaning 11 players earned minutes Wednesday.

Outside of a very brief injury scare to Davis in the second and a South Sudan run that cut the lead from 21 points to 10 in the third, the U.S. didn’t run into any trouble. It was quite a reversal from the exhibition the two countries played on July 20. In that game, the U.S. squeaked out a 101-100 win thanks to a LeBron James layup in the waning seconds.

South Sudan had the U.S.’ full focus Wednesday, and it was overwhelming. The ball movement was popping offensively, while the defense was stifling, particularly that of the second unit led by Adebayo, Holiday and White. South Sudan turned the ball over 19 times, a big no-no as the U.S. thrives in the open floor.

Coupled with a blowout win over Serbia to start group play, the U.S. has been taking care of business to start the Paris Games. It will wrap up group play against Puerto Rico on Saturday.