After being perhaps the best utility player in both of Team USA’s wins so far in the 2024 Paris Olympics, Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker will be getting his third-straight start on Saturday against Puerto Rico (0-2), according to coach Steve Kerr.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!After yesterday’s 103-86 victory over South Sudan, Kerr revealed the starting lineup for Saturday’s game, which will be the final matchup in Group C for the U.S.: Stephen Curry, Jrue Holiday, Booker, LeBron James and Joel Embiid (per Washington Post’s Ben Golliver). This is the same starting lineup the U.S. used for its first Olympic game on Sunday, a 110-84 win over Serbia, and also was implemented for three of the team’s five exhibition games leading up to the Olympics.
Steve Kerr said he Joel Embiid received DNP-CD against South Sudan because USA wanted to better match up with their team speed.
– Kerr will start LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Devin Booker, Jrue Holiday and Embiid versus Puerto Rico on Friday.— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) July 31, 2024
This also means that Kevin Durant, Team USA’s all-time leading scorer, will continue to come off the bench despite leading the team with a +46 plus/minus through the first two games. Another big note is that Embiid will return to be starter after not seeing any minutes against South Sudan due to a coach’s decision.
Even with Durant coming off the bench against South Sudan, him and Booker led Team USA in minutes Wednesday. Booker had a team-high six assists in this matchup, while Durant is a perfect 7-for-7 from 3 in the Olympics thus far.
Team USA's leaders in minutes in their second Olympic game, a 103-86 win over South Sudan:
Devin Booker (22:01, had a team-high 6 assists)
Kevin Durant (21:57, was a team-high +26)#Suns #USABMNT #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/RFWdfghYgd— Burn City Suns Talk ????️ (@BurnCitySuns) July 31, 2024
After the game against Puerto Rico, the U.S. will advance to the quarterfinals, having already secured a spot no matter the result due to head-to-head tiebreakers determining who advances and South Sudan sitting at 1-1 and Serbia at 1-1. The two best teams from each group advance to the quarterfinals, in which the matchups are the determined by a random draw with two caveats (via nbcolympics.com).
- The two highest-ranked teams will be placed in the same pot and therefore end up on opposite sides of the bracket.
- Teams from the same group can’t be drawn against each other in the quarterfinals.
After this draw takes place, a single-elimination style tournament will ensue with the winners from the quarterfinals advancing to the semifinals and the losers eliminated. The winners of the semifinals will then advance to the gold medal game, while the losers will play in the bronze medal game. The quarterfinals will be on Aug. 6, the semifinals on Aug. 8 and the bronze and gold medal matches on Aug. 10. Team USA is looking for their fifth-straight gold medal.
Saturday’s game against Puerto Rico tips off at 8:15 Arizona time.
Devin Booker excels on both ends, leads Team USA in assists in big win over South Sudan
*Get the BEST Phoenix sports insider information, exclusive content, and access to our seasonal magazines! SIGN UP HERE to unlock our premium content!*
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
