On Friday, LeBron James will carry the U.S. flag. But first, he carried the U.S. men's basketball team.
Again.
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James scored the final 11 points for the Americans down the stretch, and the four-time reigning Olympic gold medalists held off World Cup champion Germany 92-88 in London on Monday night in their final tune-up before the Paris Games start later this week.
Announced earlier in the day as the male flagbearer for the Americans in Friday night's opening ceremony down the River Seine — the female flagbearer will be revealed Tuesday — James came through time and time again down the stretch, just as he did over the weekend when his layup with 8 seconds left gave the U.S. a 101-100 win over upstart South Sudan.
James had 20 points for the U.S., while Joel Embiid scored 15, Stephen Curry had 13 and Anthony Edwards finished with 11.
“It was a good test for us. And I’m glad we were able to once again, you know, keep our composure, persevere like we did the other day versus South Sudan," James said. "It was a good win for us.”
Franz Wagner led Germany with 18 points. Andreas Obst — the hero of last year’s German win over the U.S. in the World Cup semifinals — had 14, while Dennis Schroder had a 13-point, 10-assist night. Daniel Theis added 13 for Germany and Moritz Wagner scored 12.
The Americans finished their exhibition slate 5-0, but there was only one game that was a true cakewalk. That was against Serbia, the team that'll face the U.S. on Sunday in the first Olympic game this summer for both teams.
Canada gave the U.S. issues at times, Australia came from way back to make things interesting at the end, South Sudan nearly pulled off an upset as a 43.5-point underdog and the Germans had the lead over the U.S. with 4 minutes left on Monday.
Then it was James' time. He outscored Germany 11-6 by himself in the final 3:57.
And now, Paris awaits. The games start for real this weekend.
“We've had every experience,” Curry said. “Now it's obviously a matter of showing up when the lights are bright next week. I think we're ready. I think we're prepared. Now we have to perform.”
3-point troubles
For the second consecutive game, the U.S. got outscored by 21 points from 3-point range. And it nearly burned the Americans again.
Germany was 13 for 45 from beyond the arc, the U.S. was 6 for 17, and that’s a 39-18 difference in points from deep.
South Sudan outscored the U.S. 42-21 from deep on Saturday.
Also not helping the U.S. cause on Monday: it had 14 turnovers to Germany’s seven.
“I don't think we've played our best offensive game yet,” Curry said.
Looking back
Theis had 26 points, while Schroder and Obst had 24 apiece in Germany’s 113-111 win over the U.S. in the World Cup at Manila a year ago.
That trio was fantastic again Monday, combining for 40 points.
It should be noted that the loss to Germany last year was about when some players — James, for example — started seriously thinking about joining the U.S. program for this run to the Paris Games.
No Durant
Kevin Durant got some pregame shots up again, just as he did Saturday in London. And, again, that was the extent of his game-night action.
The three-time gold medalist did not play while he continues to recover from the calf strain he suffered a few days before the U.S. convened for training camp in Las Vegas.
Durant missed all five pre-Olympic games exhibitions, though he did practice this past weekend. He has not appeared in a real game since late April, when Phoenix was swept in a first-round NBA playoff series by Minnesota.
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AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games