By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
LILLE, France -Once again Joel Embiid was booed by the French fans, the USA needed five minutes of good basketball to decide the game against Puerto Rico, and the big favorite moves to Paris as the best team in group play.
The final score was 104-83 as the US got a perfect 3-0 record and a matchup with Brazil in the quarterfinals.
Anthony Edwards with 26 points was the top scorer of the winning side, followed by Joel Embiid and Kevin Durant who scored 15 and 11 points respectively.
“I think that’s all he can do is laugh about it, and he’s done a good job just making light of it”, said coach Steve Kerr about Embiid being the target of boos.
After all, he got some chants in his favor after a good performance, even if it’s unclear if what was heard in the arena was just French fans chanting “Teddy” and celebrating the gold medal of judoka Teddy Riner.
Kerr had a different explanation: “I liked that after the French fans were booing, you could hear the American fans cheer for Joel”.
Jose Alvarado scored 18 points for the losing side.
A second-quarter burst
Puerto Rico started the game leading 12-6, however, with Steph Curry making a trademark transition three, USA were up 13-12 after five minutes of action.
Puerto Rico reacted behind nine first-quarter points by Jose Alvarado and got a 25-17 advantage three minutes later, closing the period up by four (29-25).
As coach Steve Kerr said after the game: “We kind of have a goal to keep the opposing team to 20 points a quarter, and they blew right through that. But I think our talent took over in the second quarter, and we started to wear them down”.
Kerr had already used 10 players, trying to find some rhythm, subbing all his starters at the same time, and ultimately after a three by Kevin Durant, the USA got a 31-29 lead again and that was just the start.
Τeam USA dominated the last five minutes of the period and the halftime score was 64-45 with Anthony Edwards scoring 12 points and Durant, Curry, LeBron James, and Jason Tatum adding eight points each.
Cruising until the end
The point difference went up to 31 points (87-56), just before the end of the third period which ended with a three by Puertorican Stephan Thompson junior (87-59).
However, with the game being decided much earlier, the only question was the final score plus the highlights provided by the NBA stars. Puerto Rico already knew they didn’t have a real chance and with a 0-3 record said goodbye to the Olympics.
Photo Credit: FIBA