U.S. topples South Sudan to make Olympic basketball quarters

LILLE, France — Worrying about which superstar player might not play on a given night isn’t Team USA’s problem, it could end up the trademark.

This team’s unrelenting depth will continue to lead to some uncomfortable moments when the coaching staff grapples with how to manage it all, but it fuels the Americans as they work toward trying to take a fifth consecutive gold medal.

On Wednesday, depth was again the engine in a 103-86 win against upstart South Sudan that moved Team USA to 2-0 in Olympic play and punched its ticket into next week’s quarterfinals.

The Americans’ bench was devastating, racking up 66 points (compared with just 14 from South Sudan’s) and going on two key runs that essentially defined the game.

Former NBA Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid went from starter to never getting off the bench Wednesday. Jayson Tatum, who was benched in the previous game, moved into the starting lineup.

As a result, Bam Adebayo, who got extended minutes because Embiid sat, had perhaps his best game ever with the national team. He came off the bench with 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting with seven rebounds as the leader among six players who scored in double figures.

And U.S. coach Steve Kerr made it clear this is the way it’s going to be.

“We have an embarrassment of riches on this roster, that’s the best way to put it,” Kerr said. “I mean these guys are all champions, All-Stars, Hall of Famers, however you want to put it. So the whole thing is are we committed to the goal? That’s it. That’s it.”

Kevin Durant reprised his bench role and provided his traditional firepower with 14 points, and Derrick White put in 10 points with three steals and a block among a string of excellent defensive plays.

In the win over Serbia on Sunday, what turned out to be the most important moment of the game came when Durant entered off the bench in the first quarter. Six minutes into the game against South Sudan, with the score tied 10-10 and the Bright Stars starting to gain confidence, the shrill horn at Stade Pierre-Mauroy blared and Kerr sent in his subs.

It’s so tempting and even natural to pay attention to who starts these high-profile games. And on this night it was extra intriguing because Tatum, who was the odd man out in a controversial decision against Serbia, was with the opening group. As were LeBron James, Steph Curry and Anthony Davis, players with six MVPs and nine championship rings among them.

But that’s missing the underlying power of this roster.

When the group of Durant, White, Adebayo, Jrue Holiday and Anthony Edwards came in, it changed the game. That group is filled with excellent defenders and still plenty of offensive punch.

“I just think Steve trusts us,” Adebayo said. “I feel like he looks at the benches, that spark, to come off the bench and really give us a boost, and we did that tonight.”

South Sudan, which has excellent athleticism with a group of former NBA players and shooters, is a great story and a dangerous team with a bright future. But it just can’t compete against that depth.

That U.S. group, supplemented by Devin Booker, went on a 23-4 run during the first and second quarters that essentially decided the game. The group reprised the role in the second half when South Sudan, led by hot shooting from Nuni Omot (24 points) and Bul Kuol (16), cut the lead from 19 points to 10 against the American starters. Then the bench pushed it to 16 points by the end of the third quarter.

Then starters James, Davis and Booker, who combined for 30 points, made plays down the stretch to keep the lead comfortable.

Kerr announced after the game that Embiid and Holiday will return to the starting lineup Saturday when Team USA wraps up pool play against Puerto Rico. And then, knowing there has been a fair amount of second-guessing his lineup decisions already, he made it clear he was ignoring that.

“The NBA is so popular worldwide and the regular season is kind of a soap opera, and so we understand that and social media takes over and everything becomes so dramatic,” Kerr said. “And I think we need to give these guys more credit. They’re here to win a gold medal. They’re pros. They’re committed to each other.”