Team USA takeaways: Anthony Davis leads Americans to win over Australia in Abu Dhabi exhibition

In their second exhibition game leading up to the 2024 Olympics, Team USA beat Australia by a final score of 98-92 on Monday. Anthony Davis led the United States with 17 points points on 6-for-12 shooting, 14 rebounds (seven offensive), two blocks and a steal in 18 minutes at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. 

The United States led by as many as 24 points, but the margin shrunk to just four points in the final minute. Tyrese Haliburton made back-to-back corner 3s late in the fourth quarter to counter an Aussie run.  

The Boomers challenged Team USA. Big man Jock Landale finished with a game-high 20 points on 9-for-12 shooting, plus seven rebounds, six assists and two steals. Josh Giddey had 17 points on 7-for-18 shooting, eight rebounds and seven assists. Ultimately, though, Australia could not overcome its 4-for-18 (22.2%) shooting from 3-point range. Spacing is going to be an issue for the Aussies at the Olympics.

Takeaways:

Team USA’s starting lineup remains a work in progress

While the United States won this game, they did not do so easily or impressively. Joel Embiid was the only starter who had a positive plus-minus, and that was only because he wasn’t on the floor with his fellow starters — Stephen Curry, Anthony Edwards, LeBron James and Jayson Tatum — in the fourth quarter. Embiid played a team-low 16 minutes and, and Steve Kerr’s coaching staff gave Davis an extended look with the other starters in the second half.

Is it too early to wonder if Team USA might be better off bringing Embiid off the bench? Davis has arguably been the team’s best player through two exhibition games, and qualitatively, the offense has just seemed smoother with him on the court. Part of that, though, is that the guys Kerr brought off the bench on Monday have generally looked good together — Davis and Bam Adebayo are everywhere defensively, as is Jrue Holiday, and Haliburton draws two defenders pretty much whenever he runs a pick-and-roll.

Curry, of course, is also blitzed on every pick-and-roll, but Team USA hasn’t wanted him to run too many of…

Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/team-usa-takeaways-anthony-davis-leads-americans-to-win-over-australia-in-abu-dhabi-exhibition/

Author : James Herbert

Publish date : 2024-07-15 19:22:13

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