Jayson Tatum led the trio of Celtics with nine points off the bench, while Jrue Holiday got the start and finished with eight points, four rebounds, two assists and a steal. Derrick White, who didn't play in the first two quarters, started the second half -- on his way to five assists, three rebounds and knocked the ball away on South Sudan's put-back attempt following an offensive board during the game's final possession for the United States to complete the comeback.
"South Sudan was amazing. Royal [Ivey] and his staff did an amazing job preparing their team for this game," U.S. Coach Steve Kerr told reporters postgame. "I did not do a great job of preparing my team. We did not focus enough on what they are capable of and that's on me. I think that really allowed South Sudan to gain confidence early. Once we turned it up in the second half, they had already knocked down a bunch of 3s and were feeling really good about themselves."
Both Holiday and White's on-ball defense was crucial on the final play to give Team USA their fourth straight victory with one final exhibition remaining, before heading to the Paris Summer Games later this week.
LeBron James lead all scorers with 25 points and a team-high seven assists in 23 minutes of action. Anthony Davis notched a double-double of 15 points, 11 rebounds off the bench and Joel Embiid chipped in 14 points (5-of-6 shooting), seven rebounds for Team USA -- who used a 16-0 run to close out the third quarter to give themselves a chance.
Marial Shayok netted 24 points for South Sudan, while Carlik Jones recorded 15 points, 11 rebounds and JT Thor added 14 points off the bench in the loss.
These two teams will meet again on July 31 in a much anticipated rematch during the group stage of the Olympics. In the meantime, Team USA plays their final tune up Monday afternoon against Germany, as FOX has the tip-off at 3:00 pm ET.
Joel Pavón
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