Team USA has made at least it to the quarterfinals with a 103-86 victory over South Sudan at Pierre Mauroy Stadium Wednesday afternoon.
Derrick White finished with 10 points on 3-of-3 from behind the arc to go along with three steals, a block, an assist and a rebound in 17 minutes off the bench. Jrue Holiday also played as a reserve, recording five points, two rebounds, an assist and a block in 15 minutes of action.
After receiving a DNP-CD in Team USA's 110-84 win over Serbia in the men's basketball group stage opener to begin the Paris Summer Olympics, Jayson Tatum played 17 minutes in a starting role to notch four points (2-of-4 shooting), five rebounds, two assists and a block against South Sudan.
The Celtics All-Star spoke about having a "humbling experience" after getting back on the court in another huge win.
"It's a unique situation and it's not about one individual player," Tatum told reporters postgame. "The competitor in you wants to play, obviously. But I'm not here to make a story, making it about myself. We won. I was just glad to get back out there and play again today. There was a lot of chatter over the last few days but I was in good spirits, I had a good attitude about it. I'm not holding any grudges or anything."
Bam Adebayo was the leading scorer for the United States, netting 18 points on 8-of-10 from the field and grabbed seven rebounds. Kevin Durant had 14 points off the bench, while LeBron James chipped in 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
Joel Embiid did not play, due to head coach Steve Kerr's decision, which according to him -- the rotation used was simply better suited to match their opponent's speed.
Nuni Omot finished with 24 points on 8-of-13 from the floor, Carlik Jones added 18 points, seven assists and Bul Koul had 16 points for South Sudan -- who fell to 1-1 in group play with Serbia up next for them.
In what was a much anticipated re-match between these two teams from just 10 days ago during exhibition play, where Team USA came from behind to barely beat South Sudan in a 101-100 win -- this time around the U.S. only trailed once (7-6) and for about 30 seconds which was around the six-minute mark of the first quarter.
Team USA will play their final game of the group stage Saturday against Puerto Rico (0-2). Tip-off is at 11:15 am ET on NBC.
Joel Pavón
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