There was little left to the imagination. Instead, Team USA simply dominated in every facet in blasting Serbia, 105-79, in an exhibition game at Abu Dhabi ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
This was by far the Americans’ best performance in these scrimmages — as previous runs vs. Australia and Canada were fairly close.
Stephen Curry led everyone with a game-high 24 points, while Bam Adebayo scored 17 and Anthony Davis added seven points, a whopping six blocked shots and six rebounds.
Nikola Jokic finished with eight points and seven rebounds for Serbia.
This game was actually tied after the first quarter, then the U.S. did what it always does — and really turned up the defense. Others may be able to keep pace with the Americans in terms of scoring once the Olympics roll around. But defensively, Team USA is way ahead of the pack, which is why many believe they’re destined for the gold.
The Americans used a 19-5 run to close the first half and go up 59-45 at the break. If there’s one thing they can do, it’s go on major, demoralizing runs.
Curry helped the U.S. take command of the game by scoring nine of his 18 first-half points in just over a minute. That included a four-point play.
Next up: The Americans travel to London to wrap up exhibition play with games against South Sudan (Saturday) and Germany (Monday).
They open Olympics group play against this very Serbian squad on July 28 in Lille, France. Team USA has won four straight golds and is highly favored to snag a fifth.
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