USA Men Beat Serbia 94-91

(photo credit: USA Basketball/Twitter)

The United States Men’s Basketball team received the wake-up call they desperately needed when they narrowly defeated Australia, 98-88, after two games of utter dominance. It turns out, the U.S. would play in an even closer contest when they battled Serbia on Friday evening. It wasn’t much of a battle at the start of the game, but after letting the lead slip away thanks to uninspiring and lethargic play, the U.S. truly had to work to avoid a major upset against the Serbians. 

The Americans fended off upset-minded Serbia after Serbia’s Bogdan Bogdanovic missed the game-tying three, which Kevin Durant would rebound to secure the Americans’ 94-91 win over Serbia. How the game finished was certainly not how the game started. The United States jumped out to a 23-5 lead, and that indicated that the U.S. might run away with the game. However, Serbia fought back, as they trailed by just nine points at halftime. 

The Serbians cut the lead to three points during the third quarter, before the U.S. started to pull away after extending their lead to double digits. Serbia continued to put up a fight, as they cut the lead to four points with 7:28 left in the fourth quarter. The U.S. caught a big break when Serbia center, Miroslav Raduljica, fouled out after sitting out for a good portion of the second half. Raduljica scored 18 points before being forced to sit out for the rest of the game. 

The Americans went on a scoring drought to end the game, as they didn’t score for the final two minutes of the game. Serbia was only able to score one more basket, as the U.S. held on to win 94-91 in pool play. Kyrie Irving led all U.S. scorers with 15 points, while DeAndre Jordan added 13 points. Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic fueled the Serbians, as he scored 25 points and grabbed six rebounds. Guard Milos Teodosic added 18 points and six assists. The U.S. (4-0) are assured a spot in the quarterfinals, and they will play their final game of group play on Sunday, when they face off against France. Serbia (1-3), will close pool play on Sunday, when they take on China.