The USA Men’s National
Basketball Team finished off its group stage play at the Paris 2024
Olympics on a strong performance by overpowering American neighbors
Puerto Rico, 104-83, at the Pierre de Mauroy Stadium in Lille,
France.
Team USA quickly disposed of
Puerto Rico with a barrage of three-pointers, fastbreak points, and
tenacious defense to go undefeated in their group. Along with the
largest point differential out of all teams in the competition, the
Americans also secured the top overall seed and assured themselves
of facing the worst +/- team in the quarterfinals.
After not seeing any playing
time at all vs South Sudan, Joel Embiid returned to the starting
lineup to score 15 points and block 2 shots. Embiid also had fun
trolling the French fans who were constantly booing him all
tournament long by shushing the boos when he scored and letting
them hear it once Team USA had it going.
Anthony Edwards led the
Americans in scoring with 26 points off the bench, and he treated
the fans in Paris a huge highlight when he threw down a windmill
dunk in the third quarter that left fans out of their seats to
appreciate Edwards’ skill.
LeBron James was once again
solid in manning Team USA with a solid 10-8-6 stat line while Kevin
Durant, Jayson Tatum, and Anthony Davis each chipped in with 10+
points in Team USA’s 21-point victory.
Team USA will have two days rest
before starting their gold medal run in the knockout rounds when
they face Brazil in the quarterfinals.
