Jrue Holiday is questionable for the United States men's basketball team's final game of group play at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Steve Kerr told reporters at practice on Friday. Kerr previously said Holiday would be in the starting lineup against Puerto Rico. Saturday's game is scheduled to tip at 11:15 a.m. ET.
Holiday "rolled his ankle the other night," Kerr said, per EssentiallySports' Grant Afseth, referring to a play in the third quarter of Team USA's 103-86 win against South Sudan on Wednesday. (Holiday turned his ankle on an opponent's foot, and he continued to play afterward.)
Kerr went with a new rotation in the South Sudan game, removing Holiday from the starting five and sitting Joel Embiid for the entire game. The plan for the Puerto Rico game was to go back to the one he'd used in the opener against Serbia and most of the exhibition games: Stephen Curry, Holiday, Devin Booker, LeBron James and Embiid.
Fortunately for the United States, this roster offers Kerr and his coaching staff tons of options. If Holiday has to sit and Team USA wants to replace his perimeter defense, Derrick White could slide into the starting lineup and chase Jose Alvarado around (and Tyrese Haliburton could take White's place as the backup point guard). Alternatively, Kerr could start Jayson Tatum for a second straight game after Tatum's much-discussed DNP-CD vs. Serbia in the team's opener.
Another potential replacement: Kevin Durant, who likely wouldn't have been coming off the bench in the first place if he hadn't missed all five of Team USA's with a hamstring injury. Durant, however, said Friday that he expects to remain a part of the second unit for the rest of the Olympics, per ESPN's Brian Windhorst.
"It's basketball. It really doesn't matter who starts," Durant said. "It's about really who finished the game, who put their impact on the game while they're in the game."
Team USA is 2-0 in Group C with a plus-43 point differential, the best mark of the tournament. If they beat Puerto Rico and maintain the largest point differential, they will be the top seed in the knockout round. Entering its game against France on Friday, Germany is 2-0 with a plus-33 point differential.
"We want the No. 1 seed," Kerr told reporters, per ESPN. "It gives you the best matchup in the quarterfinals. So if we drop down to two or three -- which I think is unlikely, but we've got to take care of our business -- we possibly have a much tougher opponent."
