Team USA men’s basketball’s exhibition game vs. South Sudan on Saturday in London was not the mismatch it may have appeared on paper.
Preparing for its Olympic basketball debut, the South Sudanese team was superior for much of the day. JT Thor’s three-pointer with 20 seconds remaining meant the Americans needed someone to provide a clutch bucket.
LeBron James (25 points, seven assists, six rebounds) did just that with a driving layup, giving Team USA a 101-100 edge with eight seconds to go.
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Carlik Jones (15 points, 11 assists, 11 rebounds) missed a runner on South Sudan's final possession. Wenyen Gabriel grabbed the offensive rebound but couldn't score inside through traffic or draw a foul.
Nothing in the opening stages of the game suggested that such a dramatic finish was coming.
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To start the scoring, James cut backdoor and Joel Embiid set him up for a slam. Team USA took a 12-2 lead.
South Sudan then seized control, doing regular damage in transition and capitalizing on the Americans' 1-for-12 performance in the first half from three-point range.
Former Sixer Marial Shayok led South Sudan with 24 points and six made three-pointers. He hit one over Embiid to cap a 9-1 run.
A fast-break dunk from 17-year-old center Khaman Maluach gave South Sudan the lead.
Shayok stayed aggressive all game and was clearly not intimidated whatsoever by the level of competition. The 28-year-old wing played in China last season for the Shandong Hi-Speed Kirin.
Back in 2019, the Sixers picked Shayok with the 54th overall pick in the NBA draft. He then signed a two-way contract and averaged 23 points for the Delaware Blue Coats in the G League. After making only four NBA appearances his rookie year, Shayok was waived ... and he presumably did not envision crossing paths with Embiid again.
Another notable Sixers-South Sudan connection: Royal Ivey — formerly a Sixers guard, now a Houston Rockets assistant coach — is the team's head coach. Perhaps his group will be able to make more noise in Paris with its Group C games against Team USA, Serbia and Puerto Rico. Regardless, Saturday's showing was highly impressive.
On the American side, Embiid remained the starting center and recorded 14 points on 5-for-6 shooting, seven rebounds, two assists and three turnovers in 18 minutes. He began the third quarter on the bench, though. Facing a 14-point halftime deficit, Team USA head coach Steve Kerr decided to shake things up and use a lineup of Derrick White, Anthony Edwards, Jayson Tatum, Bam Adebayo and Anthony Davis.
The Americans had better defensive focus and intensity early in the third quarter, although South Sudan responded well to multiple mini-runs. Still, Holiday played tremendous, momentum-shifting defense and Team USA suddenly discovered a much higher gear late in the third.
The Americans exploded for an 18-0 run.
South Sudan stayed very competitive in the fourth quarter, but Team USA did just enough to eke out a fourth consecutive exhibition win.
The Americans' final pre-Olympics warmup will be Monday at 3 p.m. ET vs. Germany in London. They'll meet South Sudan in Paris on July 31 at 3 p.m. ET.