After a rough outing in their pre-Olympics matchup earlier this month, LeBron James and Team USA had no issue with South Sudan on Wednesday.
The United States rolled to a dominant 103-86 win over South Sudan in their second group play game at Pierre Mauroy Stadium in Lille, France. The win moved Team USA solidly into first place in the Group C standings, as every other team has now lost at least once.
Team USA jumped out in front almost immediately on Wednesday, and forced a South Sudan timeout just about 90 seconds into the contest. James pushed the United States to a double digit lead at the end of the first quarter, where he put up eight of his X points and officially became just the third American — along with Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony — to score 300 points in Olympic competition.
Though the United States took a 19 point lead into halftime, South Sudan came out of the break with one last push in them. They cut the American lead to just 10 points, but that was as close as they got. Team USA pushed their lead back to 16 points by the end of the quarter, and then held on to grab the 17-point win in the final period without any issue.
Bam Adebayo led the way with 18 points and seven rebounds for Team USA while shooting 8-of-10 from the field. Durant added 14 points, and James finished with 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
Nuni Omat led South Sudan with 24 points after shooting 3-of-5 from behind the arc. Carlik Jones added 18 points, and Marial Shayok finished with 12 points.
The United States will wrap up group play on Saturday against Puerto Rico, which fell to Nikola Jokić and Serbia by 41 points earlier on Wednesday. The Denver Nuggets star had 14 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists in that blowout win.
Yahoo Sports has you covered with live updates and highlights for Team USA’s second game of the men’s basketball competition against South Sudan at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
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Click the photo for more on Team USA’s convincing victory from Dan Wetzel on the ground in France.
Click the photo to read more about Team USA’s win over South Sudan. (Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
This time, it was Joel Embiid who didn’t see the court for Team USA.
Final: USA 103, South Sudan 86
And just like that, Team USA is now 2-0 in Paris. The Americans cruised to a dominant 103-86 win over South Sudan, which gives them a solid lead in the Group C standings.
Five Americans hit double figures in the win. Bam Adebayo led the way with 18 points, and Kevin Durant added 14. James added 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
Nuni Omot led South Sudan with 24 points after shooting 7-of-11 from the field.
Anthony Davis just threw one down, and Team USA is in full control here down the stretch in Paris.
After 3: USA 73, South Sudan 57
Though it was close briefly in the third, Team USA is in complete control entering the fourth quarter.The United States bench has 53 of their 73 points.
South Sudan made it a 10 point game briefly, but that was as close as they got. The United States is back up by 19 points after a quick push from Anthony Edwards and Bam Adebayo late in the third.
Here comes South Sudan. We’ve suddenly got an 11 point game early in the third quarter after a great start coming out of the break.
Team USA leads 60-49 now ahead of the midway point of the quarter.
Halftime: USA 55, South Sudan 36
Bam Adebayo erupted in the second quarter while pushing Team USA to a 55-36 halftime lead in France. He’s got 14 points now while shooting a perfect 6-of-6 from the field with two 3-pointers.
Nuni Omot leads South Sudan with 13 points. Shayok hasn’t scored since the first quarter.
Joel Embiid is the only American who hasn’t played yet today, but it doesn’t seem to matter much. Team USA is up 43-26 now just past the midway point of the second quarter.
After 1: USA 26, South Sudan 14
The United States has taken a 26-14 lead after the first quarter in France. LeBron James has eight points after shooting 4-of-5 from the field to lead Team USA.
Former Iowa State star Marial Shayok leads South Sudan with seven points at the first break.
Joel Embiid is loving this.
LeBron James joins the 300-point club just a few minutes into today’s game against South Sudan.
Well, this didn’t take long. What a great start for Team USA.
While the 5-on-5 team is looking to extend its gold medal streak Team USA’s 3×3 basketball squad qualified for the Summer Games for the first time this year, and it didn’t get off to a great start. Former BYU star Jimmer Fredette headlines the team, which lost its opener to Serbia on Monday. The U.S. is back on the court this afternoon (4:35 p.m. ET) against Poland.
Team USA has arrived for its second matchup of the 2024 Paris Olympics
After a close call in London heading into the Olympics, the US men’s basketball team is back on the court against South Sudan
An inspired second half from LeBron James powered Team USA to a 101-100 win over South Sudan in a tune-up heading into Paris, and now with more on the line in the US’s second game of pool play, LeBron and the star-studded roster will look to perform a little better this time around.
