USA Basketball shook off a slow start and cruised to a 104-83 blowout win over Puerto Rico on Saturday to wrap up Group C pool play at the 2024 Olympics for men’s basketball.
USA trailed by five points at the end of the first quarter but ran away with the game with a dominant 39-16 second quarter to blow away Puerto Rico and improve to 3-0 overall in the tournament. Anthony Edwards led six different players to finish in double figures for USA with 26 points while Jayson Tatum finished with a double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds). Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado had a team-high 18 points for Puerto Rico in the loss.
USA will now get two days off before the knockout portion of the tournament begins on Tuesday. Here are four takeaways from Saturday’s win:
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Jrue Holiday gets the day off with ankle injury: The Celtics guard was expected to be reinserted back into the starting five on Saturday. However, Team USA announced Holiday would be a late scratch on Saturday due to a sprained ankle. Holiday appeared to tweak the ankle during Wednesday’s win over South Sudan after landing on a teammates’ foot but played a few minutes after suffering the injury. With Team USA having already clinched a spot in the quarterfinals even before Saturday’s matchup, the team elected to play it safe with the 34-year-old. Holiday will get a full five days of rest before USA’s quarterfinal matchup in the knockout round on Tuesday.
Jayson Tatum gets his second straight start: With Holiday sidelined, Tatum got the starting nod again after getting a DNP-CD in the opener. Tatum looked a lot more comfortable in his second appearance after an uneven offensive performance on Wednesday. The All-Star forward made his first four shot attempts of the game while leading the team with rebounds (6) and steals (2) at halftime as USA built a 19-point lead. The performance certainly increases the odds that Tatum has played his way back into the rotation when Team USA is fully healthy. Steve Kerr will tell us where Tatum stands on that front on Tuesday in the knockout round with his playing time decisions.
USA clinches top seed in knockout tournament: The Americans had already secured a spot in the quarterfinals of the knockout round with wins over Serbia and South Sudan. A blowout victory over Puerto Rico ensured that Team USA would get a top seed though for the knockout round and that should produce an easier draw for Team USA to get to the medal round. The entire bracket won’t be released until later Saturday but Team USA should face off against Brazil in the quarterfinals who only managed to go 1-2 in pool play, making them one of the weaker teams to advance to the quarterfinals.
Joel Embiid makes his return: The All-Star center was back in the starting five after a DNP-CD against South Sudan and delivered his best outing of the tournament. Embiid finished with 15 points, 3 rebounds and a pair of blocks in a blowout win while Anthony Davis moved back to the bench. Who Kerr elects to start heading into the knockout portion of the tournament will be an intriguing subplot for Team USA next week.
