Stephen Curry scored 18 points in his first 11 minutes to lead the men’s USA Basketball team to its third win in the Olympic exhibition round with a 105-79 victory over Serbia on Wednesday at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Curry scored 24 points, and Bam Adebayo added 17, while Anthony Davis finished with seven points, six rebounds and six blocks, and Anthony Edwards (16) and LeBron James (11) contributing towards the win in advance of the Paris Olympics. James said of Curry: “We drew it up for that particular reason, to get him going. He sees one go through the hoop, you see what it opens up for the rest of his game, for the rest of the game for all of us. He set the tone.”
U.S. coach Steve Kerr likes the progress his team has made, and shared: “I think the identity of the team is our depth, the strength of the team is the depth. If we can play in 4- or 5-minute bursts of intense defense, hitting bodies, rebounding, being physical, then it makes sense to play that way. We’ll see if we can keep doing it.”
The Americans will now head to London to play two more exhibition matches before heading to Paris –the first game will take place Saturday against South Sudan, followed by a matchup with Germany on Monday at London’s O2 Arena.
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