Paris Olympics 2024: Team USA Secures Victory Over South Sudan, Serbia Dominates Puerto Rico
Paris Olympic 2024 Showdown: the US men’s basketball team defeated South Sudan 103-86 to continue their quest for an Olympic gold medal for a record fifth time at the Paris Olympics 2024.
In the meantime, Serbia dominated their Group C contest, winning 107-66 over Puerto Rico. Leading NBA player Royal Ivey, South Sudan made their Olympic debut with the goal of handily defeating Team USA for the seventh time. They started out strong, taking advantage of some early American errors to establish a lead in the first quarter.
It did not last long, as the reigning champs led by 19 points at the half due to bad shooting and several fouls.
In front of thousands of fans at Pierre Mauroy Stadium, three-time Olympian Kevin Durant displayed his full potential while looking stylish as ever and fully healed from an injury. Durant scored 14 points, including 8 of 9 from the free-throw line.
LeBron James and Derrick White, who combined for 22 points, amazed the crowd with their incredible dunks as well.
“Very intense, and I admire the way (South Sudanese players) have approached the game,” Durant remarked.
Bam Adebayo of the Miami Heat, who led the United States in scoring with 18 points, continued, “You have to respect it. The history of South Sudan is inspiring.
Puerto Rico was easily defeated by Serbia in the previous Group C game. The dynamic pair of Nikola Jokic and Filip Petrusev combined for 29 points in a one-sided game.
Earlier on Wednesday, in the women’s basketball second round of Group A, Serbia defeated China 81-59 and Spain overcame Puerto Rico in a thrilling final. Both Serbia and Spain have qualified for the quarterfinals and will play each other in the final pool match on Saturday.
With 18 points and 13 rebounds, Megan Gustafson gave another outstanding performance for Spain. In the third quarter, the Puerto Ricans dominated with a 19-point lead, limiting the Europeans to just five points.
Also Read: Paris Olympics 2024: US Women’s 3×3 Basketball Team Falls to Germany in Pool Play
However, in the last quarter, the pressure became too much for them, and Laura Gil gave Spain the victory with a free shot with one second remaining.
A masterful combination of 12 points from Tina Krajisnik and 15 from Yvonne Anderson helped Serbia overcome China.
The Europeans jumped off to a six-point lead in the opening quarter, demonstrating their strength right away. But China made a comeback prior to the interval, leveling the score at 22 all.
However, despite Yao Ming, a former NBA player for the Houston Rockets and president of the Chinese Basketball Association, backing them from the bench, the team was unable to hold off the Serbs’ late-game charge.
When they play on Saturday, China and Puerto Rico will have one more chance to advance if they can score enough points to place in the top two, third-place teams of the group stage.
