Team USA didn't just want to go undefeated in group play at the 2024 Olympics. They wanted to get the top seed in Paris, where the knockout stage will begin on Tuesday. With a 104-83 blowout win against Puerto Rico on Saturday in Lille, they have done just that.
The United States went 3-0 in Group C with a plus-64 point differential. Germany and Canada, the other two teams that went undefeated in Lille, had point differentials of plus-20 and plus-47, respectively.
If there was one star of the show on Saturday, it was Anthony Edwards, who scored 26 points on 11-for-15 shooting, with three rebounds, three assists and two steals in 17 minutes. One of those steals came in the fourth quarter when he jumped a passing lane and raced to recover the ball, after which he soared for a windmill dunk, perhaps Team USA's best highlight of these Olympics:
Joel Embiid returned to the starting lineup after sitting out Team USA's win against South Sudan on Wednesday and finished with 15 points on 6-for-14 shooting and two blocks. Fans at Pierre Mauroy Stadium continued to boo Embiid, who on multiple occasions, encouraged them to boo louder.
Six Americans scored in double digits, including LeBron James, who added six rebounds and a game-high eight assists. James and Stephen Curry finished a game-high plus-18 in 18 minutes. Jayson Tatum started in place of Jrue Holiday (who turned his ankle against South Sudan) and recorded 10 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and two steals in 23 minutes.
Puerto Rico started the game scorching. They went on an 11-0 first-quarter run (during which Jose Alvarado, Aleem Ford and Jordan Howard made 3s) and led 25-17 after eight minutes, having made four of their first six 3-point attempts. They missed their next 14 shots from deep, though, and Edwards kickstarted an 8-0 run that would give the United States the lead with a coast-to-coast layup at the end of the first frame. Team USA outscored Puerto Rico 39-16 in the second quarter and ended the half on an 18-2 run.
After giving up 29 points in the first quarter, the United States allowed 30 in the second and third quarters combined. Team USA forced 16 turnovers, 10 of them of the live-ball variety, and had 22 fast break points to Puerto Rico's 12.
Alvarado scored a team-high 18 points on 7-for-13 shooting for Puerto Rico and, in the third quarter, picked Embiid's pocket from behind in transition. Puerto Rico, who qualified for the Olympics for the first time since 2004, finished 0-3 in group play and has been eliminated from the tournament.
It is possible that no one has been having more fun than Edwards at the Olympics, and I'm not just referring to him becoming a table-tennis enthusiast. (In a post-game interview with NBC Sports Mike Tirico, Edwards described his experience cheering on American Lily Zhang in women's singles as "super dope.") Edwards has been all smiles on and off the court in France, and he's repeatedly gushed about being able to play with his idols.
After the win against South Sudan, Edwards said, via The Athletic, that he loves that Kevin Durant has been coming off the bench and hopes coach Steve Kerr keeps it that way because "I get to pass it to him. He gets to pass it back. That's probably one of my biggest dreams ever, so that's dope." After going off against Puerto Rico, Edwards told Tirico that playing with Durant, James and Curry was "the best feeling ever" and he appreciated being given the opportunity to play a leading role.
"Hell yeah, hell yeah," Edwards said. "I mean, they're three of the greatest players ever, so the fact that they would let me put on a show shows a lot, shows their character, man. They're willing to do anything to win the game."
Edwards added that he's "enjoying every moment" at the Olympics.
On Saturday, everything looked easy for Edwards. He scored three times within two minutes of checking into the game, his jump shot was pure and Puerto Rico couldn't keep him out of the paint. His performance brought to mind what he did for Team USA last summer at the FIBA World Cup, but he put up all those points in half the minutes that he played in the last couple of games with the 2023 team, with many more future Hall of Famers next to him.
Briefly in the second quarter, Kerr went with a lineup of Curry, Edwards, James, Durant and Anthony Davis. As the United States prepares for the harder portion of the tournament to begin, I wonder if we might see that group again, perhaps even as a closing lineup in a tight game. That unit gives Team USA an overwhelming amount of shooting, off-the-dribble playmaking and defensive versatility.
For now, Edwards makes sense with the second unit, essentially playing the role that Kerr initially envisioned him playing in 2023 before he emerged as that team's No. 1 option. Because he's used to a high-usage role and has a tendency to stop the ball, it's totally understandable that he's not in the first five. If he keeps cooking like this, though, that stuff might not matter. If he keeps cooking like this, it's easy to imagine a scenario in which Edwards' idols defer to him down the stretch.
James committed a single turnover against Puerto Rico, a pocket pass to Embiid that missed the mark and led directly to a dunk on the other end. About a minute after the miscue, as if he wanted to make it up to the Basketball Gods, James found Embiid open under the basket with a no-look, behind-the-back bounce pass. It was an absolute beauty.
That was one of James' six assists in a less-than-five-minute stretch of the second quarter, which doesn't even sound possible. He finished the game with 110 career assists in the Olympics, surpassing Manu Ginobili (107) for the fourth-highest mark among men's basketball players in history. The all-time record of 160, held by Sarunas Jasikevicius, who represented Lithuania in four Olympics, is all but certainly out of reach, but the No. 2 spot, held by Sarunas Marciulionis (121), is certainly not. James will likely pass Toni Kukoc (112) for third in Team USA's next game. James is playing in his
Durant, like James, is playing in his fourth Olympics, and he's moving up in the record books, too. Durant already has the most points, field goals, 3-pointers and 3s at the Olympics in the history of the American men's national team, passed Carmelo Anthony in rebounding on Saturday with 126 career rebounds. He is also five points away from tying Lisa Leslie for Team USA's career Olympic scoring record, men's and women's teams included.
"I'm just glad we won this game, and it feels good to accomplish stuff like that with this group of guys," Durant told NBC Sports' Kerith Burke in a walkoff interview. "It's a fun group of guys. It's a fun group of guys, man. I like being in the locker room with them. It's cool to do that type of stuff, but we're trying to get this gold."
Additionally, Durant moved into eighth place on the all-time Olympic scoring list among men's basketball players, per fiba.com. Durant has 483 career points at the Olympics, 40 behind the seventh-place Ginobili and 45 behind Patty Mills, who is still adding to his total for Australia.
Team USA clinched the top seed and will face Brazil on Tuesday in the quarterfinals. Shortly after the game on Saturday, Kerr's mind was already on Bruno Caboclo and company.
"We've seen almost everybody, but we haven't seen Brazil, and that's our focus," Kerr said, via fiba.com. "...We've gotta be ready, they made 18 threes yesterday, and they are the best offensive rebounding team in the tournament, so we have to be ready."
Caboclo dominated Japan on Friday, finishing with 33 points and 17 rebounds. In Brazil's two games before that, though, the 28-year-old big man played a total of 24 minutes and scored a total of six points as a result of foul trouble. Expect Team USA to bring the physicality. It will be a challenge for Brazil to defend without fouling.
For the full slate of the quarterfinal matchups, click here.
• Edwards 26 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists
• Embiid 15 points, 3 rebounds
• Durant 11 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists
Team USA will enter the men's basketball quarterfinals as the No. 1 seed after finishing 3-0 in Group C play
Team USA is cruising against Puerto Rico and Anthony Edwards just put an exclamation on the Americans' latest triumph. The windmill dunk came in the fourth quarter and was the biggest slam of the game (so far...)
In order to hang with the Americans, you have to shoot lights out. Puerto Rico is just 5-for-24 (21%) in this game. Jose Alvarado's trey in the third quarter snapped a 0-for-14 streak from beyond the perimeter for Puerto Rico. As a result, Team USA has opened 29-point lead.
Joel Embiid is hearing the jeers while at the free-throw line against Puerto Rico. He sinks both and there's a counter cheer among the Team USA fans in the house. Before the 2024 Olympics, Embiid gained a French passport and it was assumed he would play for the host country. But Embiid is wearing the "other" red, white and blue while the locals do not have a short memory.
After the South Sudan game, Embiid had a simple response when reacting to getting booed in that game:
There were 10 lead changes in the first half, but Team USA outscored Puerto Rico 39-16 in the second quarter and now lead at the break.
• Edwards 12 points
• Tatum 8 points, 6 rebounds
• Curry 8 points, 4 rebounds
• James 8 points, 4 rebounds
• Durant 8 points
• Alvarado 13 points
• Waters 8 points
Kevin Durant has already knocked down two treys against Puerto Rico. The man lives from beyond the perimeter.
