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2024 Paris Olympics

Team USA dominates Puerto Rico 104-83 to lock up No. 1 seed

© John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

Team USA will be the No. 1 seed in the quarterfinals next week after dominating Puerto Rico 104-83 to close out group play 3-0.

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The U.S. needed to win by over five points to clinch this No. 1 spot, and they used a great team effort to get it and more.

Anthony Edwards recorded the most points of any player on Team USA throughout the first three games with 26 points on 11-of-15 shooting, three rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Jrue Holiday was ruled out for tonight’s game after suffering an ankle sprain in Wednesday’s win over South Sudan. Coach Steve Kerr said that Holiday was supposed to start tonight, but the U.S. instead went with Jayson Tatum in his spot alongside Stephen Curry, Devin Booker, LeBron James and Joel Embiid. Edwards led the bench unit of Derrick White, Kevin Durant, Bam Adebayo and Anthony Davis. Tyrese Haliburton also got into the game late.

James powered the U.S. to a 39-16 second quarter after the U.S. trailed by four to end the first quarter. He ended with 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting, eight assists and six rebounds in 18 minutes despite not playing the fourth quarter. Embiid had 15 points on 6-of-14 shooting, as he looked to get rolling after not playing against South Susdan, while Tatum had a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds. Durant, who is already Team USA men’s basketball’s all-time leading scorer, also became their all-time leading rebounder in the game, finishing with 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting and four rebounds off the bench. Davis was also in double figures with 10 points on 3-of-4 shooting and had six rebounds and two blocks.

The Americans once again showed great ball movement, finishing with 30 assists on 40 made field goals. They did struggled from 3, however, shooting 9-for-32 (28%) from deep.

Jose Alvarado recorded 18 points and three assists for Puerto Rico, who finished the tournament 0-3 and will not advance to the quarterfinals.

Game Flow

Puerto Rico got off to an early 12-6 start led by six points by Alvarado. The U.S. answered back with a 7-0 run, but Puerto Rico would not let them gain momentum. A couple minutes later, the Puerto Ricans went on a 11-0 run, as they started 4-for-6 from deep, and led 25-17 with 2:12 remaining in the first quarter. The U.S. started to come back, but Puerto Rico was up 29-25 going into the second quarter, and Alvarado had nine points and two assists. Tatum and Edwards had six points apiece for the U.S.

The U.S. retook the lead with six straight points to open the second quarter. However, Puerto Rico kept sticking around for a couple minutes, despite Durant and Edwards getting rolling, until the U.S. went on a 8-0 run to take a 44-37 lead with under five minutes to go in the half. After checking back in midway through the quarter, James started to control the game, mainly with his passing, after checking back in, as the U.S. in total ended the quarter on a 28-8 run and won it 39-16, taking a 64-45 lead into the half.

James had eight points, six assists and four rebounds at the break, while Edwards recorded a team-high 12 off the bench. Tatum, Curry and Durant all also each had eight points. Team USA had 19 assists on 25 field goals. Alvarado notched a game-high 13 points for Puerto Rico.

Both teams were cold to start the third quarter, as they only scored nine points combined in the first four minutes (70-49 U.S.). The United States went on a 10-0 run after their bench checked in with 4:38 to go in the quarter. Edwards got up to a game-high 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting, as Team USA headed into the fourth quarter with a 87-59 lead. Durant (11 points), Embiid (11 points) and James (10 points) were all also in double figures for the United States.

The game was pretty much over going into the fourth quarter, but Edwards continued to put on a show for the crowd, including this windmill dunk. Puerto Rico did end up winning the final quarter 24-17, but the U.S. stayed firmly ahead to lock up the No. 1 seed with the win.

Next Up

Team USA will play in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, Aug. 6 with the opponent and time still to be determined.

Devin Booker starring in all-around role for Team USA, impressing coach Steve Kerr

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Brendan Mau is a senior writer covering the Phoenix Suns and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @Brendan_Mau

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