What we learned as Steph gets going early, Team USA earns No. 1 seed originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Another team effort by Team USA helped give it the edge over Puerto Rico with a dominant 104-83 win Saturday in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The Americans entered the contest needing at least a five-point victory to secure the No. 1 seed, but a 21-point blowout will suffice, too.
Steph Curry, who despite one game in his Olympics debut has struggled thus far to find a rhythm, got going early but was met with a cold second half.
But just as before, it didn’t matter for Team USA.
Anthony Edwards led the way with 26 points. Joel Embiid had 15 points. Kevin Durant added 11. Anthony Davis, Jayson Tatum and LeBron James each finished with 10.
New Orleans Pelicans and Puerto Rico guard Jose Alvarado led his team with XX.
And for the first time during the Olympics, amid increasing controversy, Team USA coach Steve Kerr played all available players on the roster. Jrue Holiday sat out with an ankle issue.
Here are the takeaways from Team USA’s rout of Puerto Rico in the group play finale.
Steph heats up
One game after scoring just three points on 1-of-9 shooting, Curry got going again Saturday.
At least in the first half.
He still isn’t shooting lights out the way the world knows he’s able to, but the Warriors superstar displayed a promising first half before going cold in the second.
Curry had five first-quarter points before knocking down a triple in the second quarter. At the half, he had eight points.
And after going 0 for 2 from deep in the third, the Chef was benched in the fourth as the Americans had a comfortable lead.
Ant Man dominates
If there’s one guy who knows how to get his team — and the crowd — going, it’s Edwards.
His electric energy radiated both on and off the court Saturday, but he put that enthusiasm into his play with a dominant performance against Puerto Rico.
The 22-year-old Minnesota Timberwolves star finished with 26 points on 11-of-15 shooting from the field and 3 of 6 from beyond the arc, with three rebounds, three assists and two steals in 26 minutes off the bench.
KD makes history
Olympics KD is a different breed.
With 11 points and four rebounds in Saturday’s win, Durantb became the all-time leading scorer and rebounder for Team USA basketball.
Durant shot an efficient 50-percent from the field and 42.8 percent from beyond the arc, also adding three assists and one steal in just under 19 minutes off the bench.
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