Team USA Crushes Serbia In 105-79 Exhibition Blowout

The United States men’s basketball team dominated Serbia in a 105-79 exhibition victory Wednesday. Heavily favored to win gold this summer, Team USA easily handled Nikola Jokic and company with a well-rounded attack and stifling defense.

Steph Curry led the way on offense, scoring 24 points, but Anthony Davis and Bam Adebayo shut down the paint and earned praise from Team USA head coach Steve Kerr after the game.

“Bam and AD together are really something, just the switching, but they can also protect the rim and be in a drop if we go to that coverage,” Kerr said, according to ESPN. “The strength of the team is the depth, and so if we can play in four- or five-minute bursts of just playing intense defense, hitting bodies, rebounding being physical, then it makes sense to play that way.”

To put the United States’ victory in context, Serbia is a highly reasonable medal contender featuring a three-time NBA MVP and several valuable contributors on the roster. Team USA is simply on a different level, boasting All-Star-caliber talent throughout the roster.

After two meandering exhibition victories against Canada and Australia, it seems like the U.S. is sharpening into form as players accustomed to facing off gradually gel into a cohesive unit. Kerr has experimented with the starting five, but decisions off the bench may end up making the difference due to the depth of talent at his disposal.

With the likes of LeBron James and Kevin Durant not even contributing the lion’s share toward victories in exhibition games, it becomes difficult to imagine any team in the Olympics stopping the U.S. in their entirety. This is the point, however, as Team USA has suffered several embarrassing defeats at the international level in recent years. The country’s stars seem to be uniting to prove that supremacy in the sport remains firmly stateside.

Article by Patrick Moquin