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Team USA defeats Germany, sweeping the USA Basketball Showcase (92 – 88)

July 23, 2024
Image: @USABasketball

Team USA defeats Germany to remain undefeated in all of their 5 exhibition games. It was a close game down the stretch where the Germans were able to cut the 7-point USA lead to just a 3-point deficit (87-84) via Daniel Theis’ alley-oop.

But that’s when LeBron James went to work and scored the next 5 points for Team USA, giving them an 8-point cushion heading into the final 45 seconds of the game.

Like in the previous games, 39-year-old LeBron James carried Team USA with 20 points playing just 18 minutes. He also added 6 rebounds and 4 assists. Joel Embiid added 15 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists, but more than his offensive contribution, he was a monster on the defensive end. His block on Issac Bonga led to a monster slam by Anthony Edwards.

Orlando Magic’s Franz Wagner led Germany with 17 points and 8 rebounds, while Andreas Obst added 17, including five 3-pointers.

“I think we can get a lot better,” U.S. Coach Steve Kerr said. “We’re getting to a place now where we are comfortable with rotations and I think guys are getting familiar with each other. But we can do a lot of things better. I thought our passing was not great tonight. They put a lot of defensive pressure on us and we turned it over a few times. I think we can tighten up our game and get better.”

Game Highlights

Olympics Men’s Basketball Schedule

Team USA is part of Group C of the 2024 Paris Olympics Men’s Basketball Tournament Groupings and they will open the tournament against Serbia on Sunday (28th July), then have a rematch with South Sudan on July 31st, and their last game to wrap up group play will be against Puerto Rico on August 3rd.

Published in 2024 Paris Olympics, Basketball, NBA and Sports