Final: Team USA 103, South Sudan 86
VILLENEUVE-D’ASCQ, France — Bam Adebayo led the U.S. with 18 points and added seven rebounds; he has the perfect combination of size and speed to wreak havoc on an undersized South Sudan frontcourt. LeBron James finished with 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists and became just the third player in U.S. history to score 300 points over his national team career, joining Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony. Nuni Omot, a former Baylor Bear, led South Sudan with 24 points.
With the win Wednesday, Team USA clinched a spot in the Olympic quarterfinals Tuesday. The U.S. finishes its Pool C play with a game against winless Puerto Rico at 11:15 a.m. ET on Saturday. South Sudan will face Serbia and needs a win or a close loss to advance.
Olympics basketball scenarios: How could the knockout round look?
Who will be the eight advancing teams? Let's run through the possibilities.
Barring a massive upset loss or underperformance against Puerto Rico, Team USA will likely be the top overall seed due to having the strongest point differential. (They're at +43 before facing the tournament's worst team)
The second seed will likely come down to Canada and the winner of Friday's France-Germany game. All four are through to the knockout round, but getting the second seed means avoiding Team USA until a potential gold medal game (assuming the U.S. does as expected against Puerto Rico). To secure that spot, Canada must first defeat Spain Friday, then hope their point differential (currently +17) exceeds that of the Germany-France winner. Canada would much prefer a France victory, as France's current point differential (+16) is lower than Germany's (+33).
Friday's first contest, Japan vs. Brazil, is a de-facto elimination game, with the loser finishing fourth in Group B. A blowout win would be ideal for either. More on that below.
Australia will clinch its spot and dooms Greece with a victory. A win for Giannis Antetokounmpo and company makes the third-place race really messy, with potentially five teams (Greece, Australia, Spain with a loss to Canada, the Japan-Brazil winner and the Serbia-South Sudan loser) on four points and a 1-2 record.
If Australia wins and Spain loses, the Serbia-South Sudan game to close group-stage play Saturday will be pivotal. The winner of said contest automatically advances, but the loser retains a chance to finish in the top two in point differential among third-placed teams. Here's how the five teams in this hypothetical currently stand:
- Serbia: +15
- Spain: -5
- South Sudan: -6
- Japan: -24
- Brazil: -25
We know the Serbia-South Sudan winner will advance and the Japan-Brazil loser will be out. Serbia should be OK as long as it avoids a blowout loss, while South Sudan is in a trickier spot if it loses.
For argument's sake, let's say the Japan-Brazil margin of victory is 10 in either direction, while Spain loses to Canada by 10. South Sudan would then need to avoid losing to Serbia by eight or more points (if Japan wins) or nine or more points (if Brazil wins) to become the first African team to advance to the Olympic knockout round.
Regardless, the Bright Stars have the benefit of playing last and knowing exactly how they'll need to perform against Serbia to make history.
Standings | Round 3 schedule
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Why teams are scoring down the stretch
If you're wondering why both teams were shooting so often down the stretch, it's simple: Point differential is a huge factor in this tournament.
It could be especially important for South Sudan.
When seeding is determined after group play, point differential is the second tiebreaker after record. (Inside any given group, the head-to-head record is the first tiebreaker, while point differential between the teams in question is next in breaking up a three-way tie.)
South Sudan plays Serbia in their last game. If it loses, it will likely finish third place in Group C, assuming a United States win over Puerto Rico. The top two of the three third-place finishers will advance to the quarterfinals, with point differential likely making the difference between three 1-2 teams.
With every team in the tournament having played two games, South Sudan has a minus-6 differential, which is 18 points ahead of Japan and 19 points ahead of Brazil, a pair of 0-2 teams in Group B that will play on Friday.
Even the United States needs points to lock the top seed, as well as the theoretical easiest path to the gold medal game. Through two games, they were 10 points ahead of Germany, 26 ahead of Canada and 27 ahead of France, the other undefeated teams.
If there is still a tie after point differential, points scored is next, followed by FIBA world ranking. And that is why the teams combined to take 12 shots in the last two minutes of what wound up being a 17-point game.
Final stat line from tonight larger continues previous USA trends: An offensive rebound deficit and too many turnovers, but made up for it with torrid shooting and forcing 19 turnovers of their own.
Most interesting question heading into the final group game: Should Derrick White replace Steph Curry in the starting lineup?
Remaining Olympic men's basketball schedule
Each team has one more preliminary round game. They are as follows. All times Eastern:
FRIDAY
5 am: Japan vs. Brazil
7:30 am: Australia vs. Greece
11:15 am: Canada vs. Spain
3 pm: France vs. Germany
SATURDAY
11:15 am: Puerto Rico vs. USA
3 pm: Serbia vs. South Sudan
Current Olympics men's basketball standings
Every team has played two games now. Here's where we stand:
Group A:
- Canada: 4 points (2-0, +17)
- Australia: 3 points (1-1, +2)
- Spain: 3 points (1-1, -5)
- Greece: 2 points (0-2, -14)
Group B:
- Germany: 4 points (2-0, +33)
- France: 4 points (2-0, +16)
- Japan: 2 points (0-2, -24)
- Brazil: 2 points (0-2, -25)
Group C:
- United States: 4 points (2-0, +43)
- Serbia: 3 points (1-1, +15)
- South Sudan: 3 points (1-1, -6)
- Puerto Rico: 2 points (0-2, -52)
As it stands, USA, Germany and France have officially clinched spots in the quarterfinals, and Canada has virtually done the same. Serbia and Australia are in the driver's seat to advance as well. The two best third-place teams will round out the field — as of now, those two teams are Spain and South Sudan.
The two highest qualifiers by points are guaranteed to be on opposite sides of the bracket. As of now, those two teams are USA and Germany, though that will likely change after Round 3's results.
One game remains for each team ... and a lot could happen.
Joel Embiid the lone U.S. player to sit in win
VILLENEUVE-D’ASCQ, France — The intrigue wasn't in the final score, but in Team USA's lineup.
Joel Embiid, last year’s NBA MVP and the Americans’ starter at center for their first six games this summer, didn’t play at all in the team’s 103-86 blowout win over South Sudan at the Olympics on Wednesday evening.
Bam Adebayo led the U.S. with 18 points and added seven rebounds; he has the perfect combination of size and speed to wreak havoc on an undersized South Sudan frontcourt. LeBron James finished with 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists and became just the third player in U.S. history to score 300 points over his national team career, joining Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony. Nuni Omot, a former Baylor Bear, led South Sudan with 24 points.
South Sudan relied on quickness to surprise the Americans in that close exhibition game between the two countries on July 20 in London, so a plausible explanation for Embiid being held out made sense from a matchup perspective to make the 7-footer the odd man out.
If the fervor back home over Jayson Tatum not playing Sunday was any indication, then there could be a whole new trove of intrigue surrounding Team USA’s lineup moving forward.
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Q4 52.4: USA 96, South Sudan 83
The Americans are going to win, but this last minute may end up being the difference in South Sudan's quest to become the first African team to advance to the knockout round of the Olympics. Carlik Jones scored two layups, while Nuni Omot had a three-point play to limit the deficit. Point differential is a tiebreaker for advancing.
Q4 1:42: USA 96, South Sudan 76
You're probably wondering why both teams had their regulars in until this point when this game was decided. The reason: point differential matters in determining tiebreakers for seeding and advancing to the knockout round.
This is especially important for South Sudan, who is about to drop to 1-1 and must face Serbia in Saturday's finale. A loss drops them to 1-2 and likely relegates them to third place. Two of the three third-place teams advance to the knockout round, with the second tiebreaker being point differential. It behooves South Sudan to keep this game as close as possible after it picked up an 11-point win over Puerto Rico in its opener.
Q4 3:32: USA 94, South Sudan 74
Must be nice to execute a 3/4 court give and go. That's exactly what LeBron James did by lobbing a pass to a ducking-in Anthony Davis, then receiving an immediate pass back for a runaway slam and a raise-the-roof celebration.
Team USA also got two 3s to push the lead to 20.
South Sudan’s Wenyen Gabriel fell into the cameras and LeBron James, his former Lakers teammate, came out of his way to give him a hand up.
Q4 5:23: USA 87, South Sudan 72
Funny moment just now. Nuni Omot was out on the break against Stephen Curry, with LeBron James lurking behind looking for a signature block a la the 2016 NBA Finals. But instead of running by Omot like J.R. Smith did on that famous swat on Andre Iguodala, Curry crashed into Omot and picked up the defensive foul, preventing a highlight. James appeared to remind him after the play.
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They took so long to figure out what to do with that foul on Anthony Davis that the wave has begun.
Come on, refs. That's a price too steep.
Q4 6:58: USA 85, South Sudan 68
That might do it for South Sudan's brief hopes at a comeback. A turnover leads to a Devin Booker three-point play on a driving layup, and the foul was Wenyen Gabriel's fifth, relegating the big man to the bench.
Q4 7:35: USA 80, South Sudan 68
A Kevin Durant 3 halted an 8-0 South Sudan run, but the Bright Stars continue to hang around. Carlik Jones, who has been quiet to this point, just scored on two straight one-on-one drives on Steph Curry. That's clearly South Sudan's gameplan.
Q4 8:23: USA 77, South Sudan 63
U.S. team seems totally bewildered by the unsportsmanlike foul call against Anthony Davis on what looked like a pretty regular post move. LeBron and Davis both going through the steps of the move with the ref.
End of third quarter: USA 73, South Sudan 57
Give South Sudan credit for hanging in there. Bam Adebayo and this USA second unit continues to thrive, but South Sudan has been much more decisive on both ends in the second half. Marial Shayok attacked Adebayo just now and beat him for a three-point play on a turnaround jumper.
Remember: margin of victory matters for South Sudan. If they can keep this loss to the low teens or below, it'll make it far more likely they qualify as one of the two third-place teams in the event of a loss to Serbia Saturday.
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Q3 3:18: USA 65, South Sudan 52
Bam Adebayo is a goddamn menace. After missing an alley-oop dunk — his first miss of the game — he hounded South Sudan star Carlik Jones full court, denying him the ball multiple times before forcing him to pass after a one-on-one defensive stand. This game is a perfect illustration of his value.
Q3 3:58: USA 65, South Sudan 52
Very on brand for Derrick White to get banged up holding his back and then like a minute later dove to the floor out of bounds.
This is what Team USA wanted him for. Just keeps pushing through and playing hard even when he picks up little knocks.
Q3 5:45: USA 60, South Sudan 49
Starters have gone back to playing NBA ball to start the second half. These iso post-ups ain't it. Steve Kerr calls timeout to regroup after the lead was cut to 14 and puts in a new five.
