One of the big stories coming out of Team USA’s first exhibition contest against Canada was how impressive Anthony Davis looked on both ends of the court. That was not a one time thing as the Los Angeles Lakers’ superstar continued to show that he will be one of the most important pieces to the success of the Americans at the 2024 Olympics.
Davis was again dominant both offensively and defensively, leading Team USA with 17 points, 14 rebounds and two blocks in just 18 minutes in a 98-92 victory over Australia. The Americans led by as many as 21 points, but Australia, who feature a number of NBA players including Patty Mills, Jock Landale and Josh Giddey, fought back and were within four points late in the game.
Regardless, the big story was Davis again looking like the best big man on Team USA, regularly turning away shots at the rim defensively while dominating inside on offense while even adding in a 3-pointer for good measure.
Anthony Davis was a FORCE coming off the bench for #USABMNT in their Showcase win!
17 PTS | 14 REB | 2 BLK pic.twitter.com/xnOmNOIhJz
— NBA (@NBA) July 15, 2024
His Lakers teammate LeBron James also knocked down a pair of threes to finish with 10 points, three rebounds and three assists. Overall, Team USA was much better offensively, especially from deep as eight players knocked down 3-pointers and they shot 41.3% from 3-point range as a team.
Head coach Steve Kerr actually made a couple of changes to the starting lineup in this exhibition, swapping out Jrue Holiday and Devin Booker for Anthony Edwards and Jayson Tatum. Booker was extremely efficient, needing just seven field goal attempts to finish with 16 points while Edwards led all American starters with 14. Joel Embiid and Bam Adebayo each finished with 10 points for Team USA as well.
There were some flaws that were revealed against the Australians, however, as despite the size and paint presence of Davis, Embiid and Adebayo, Australia was able to rack up 68 points in the paint thanks to some excellent passing and play design. And once again Team USA struggled to take care of the ball, finishing with 18 turnovers with four players having three apiece.
Australia was led by Landale, who currently plays for the Houston Rockets, and finished with 20 points and seven rebounds. Giddey, recently traded to the Chicago Bulls, added 17 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.
Next up for Team USA
Team USA has one more exhibition in Abu Dhabi as they will face Serbia, led by MVP Nikola Jokic on Wednesday, July 17. They will then head to London to finish out their exhibition schedule against South Sudan on July 20 and Germany on July 22 before Olympic Group Stage begins.
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