Team USA withstood a late comeback by Australia to beat them 98-92 Monday afternoon in Abu Dhabi.
Jayson Tatum finished with seven points on 3-of-4 from the field, to go along with four rebounds and five assists in 21 minutes as a starter. The All-Star forward also had one posterizing dunk in the second quarter that put the U.S. ahead by 16 points.
As for Tatum's other Celtics teammates, Jrue Holiday came off the bench to record five points and four assists in 18 minutes, while newcomer Derrick White didn't play as he just joined the team Sunday morning after replacing Kawhi Leonard -- who withdrew from the roster last week.
The leading scorer for Team USA, who led by as many as 24, before Australia tied the game late in the final frame, was Anthony Davis with 17 points and also grabbed 14 rebounds off the bench. Devin Booker added 16 points and Anthony Edwards netted 14 in the win.
Jock Landale recorded 20 points, six rebounds and seven assists for Australia, while Josh Giddey notched 17 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Dyson Daniels was the only other Aussie to reach double-figures scoring with 14 points in the loss.
Team USA will face Serbia, which is also be their first Olympic opponent (July 28), for another exhibition in Abu Dhabi Wednesday at noon ET on FS1.
Joel Pavón
No comments:
Post a Comment