Team USA finishes their preliminary pool play with a third consecutive close victory. After their scare against Australia on Wednesday and near upset against Serbia on Friday, Team USA looked to bounce back against France on Sunday afternoon. The United States looked great early on but France quickly roared back without their longtime star, Tony Parker.
The 2016 U.S. Olympic Men’s Basketball Team advanced to 5-0 in pool play after beating France 100-97 on Sunday at Carioca Arena 1 in Rio de Janeiro. France falls to 3-2 in pool play but they will be advancing to the final tournament as the third seed in Group A.
Klay Thompson poured in a game-high 30 points on on 9-16 shooting including going 7-of-13 from three point range. Kyrie Irving finished with 10 points and 12 assists, Kevin Durant poured in 17 points and Carmelo Anthony dropped 10 points.
The highlight of the game came late in the game when Team USA came up with a steal and Kyrie Irving tossed an amazing alley-oop to Kevin Durant.
And the alternate angles looked even better.
Every angle of this Kyrie Irving alley-oop to Kevin Durant is wild. #TeamUSA
(Via @clippittv) pic.twitter.com/bmUZS1krF7— Def Pen Sports (@DefPenSports) August 14, 2016
The French squad was without Tony Parker and he did not play because he informed his coach that he wanted to be well rested for the tournament round. Thomas Huertel led all French starters with 18 points and nine assists and Nano De Colo came off the bench for France and matched his scoring output. Nicolas Batum scored 14 points and Joffrey Lauvergne scored 12 points and grabbed 5 rebounds off the bench.
This performance for Team USA comes just a couple of days after their scare against Serbia, a team that also gave Team USA a big run for their money down the stretch. Coach K previously stated that he felt the US needed to stop messing around and start taking their opponents seriously and this could be what he meant.
Beyond that, Team USA stars like Kevin Durant, DeMarcus Cousins, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson, until today, have been struggling to get anything going. It’s often been Carmelo Anthony, Paul George and Kyrie Irving that have consistently carried the Team to wins in the 2016 Rio Olympics. Team USA might also be taking it a little lax going into the tournament round and we’ll see what they have to offer in their first quarterfinals matchup. Their opponent is not yet determined.
With France already recording three wins in group A coming into their matchup with Team USA, a loss wouldn’t impact their standing too much and if they stay at the third seed in Group A, they can potentially avoid Team USA until the semi-finals.
As Group A’s No. 1 seed, it will meet the No. 4 finishing team from Group B, which will be determined after tomorrow’s final preliminary round games in Group B. The quarterfinals will be played on Aug. 17, the semifinals are on Aug. 19, and the finals are slated for Aug. 21.
