Avoiding what would have been one of the most shocking losses in USA Basketball’s 50-year history, the American men’s Olympic team weathered its first real test of the summer against an unexpected opponent.

Unbeaten in summer exhibition play, Team USA rallied from a 16-point deficit to defeat South Sudan, the youngest nation playing international basketball, 101–100.

American head coach Steve Kerr admitted, “I did not do a great job preparing our team.” “I take full responsibility for our failure to adequately highlight their capabilities.

LeBron James had his best summer performance, scoring 25 points while also grabbing 6 rebounds and dishing out 6 assists. James is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and is considered one of the all-time greats in NBA history. The game-winning layup, which he made with his left hand with eight seconds remaining, was his drive to the hoop.In addition, Stephen Curry—the greatest shooter in NBA history and another legend—scored 10 points. Team USA’s former most valuable player Joel Embiid had a career-best performance with 14 points and 7 boards, while Anthony Davis continued his monster performance with 15 points and 11 boards.

It took every ounce of star power from the United States’ top performers to defeat a nation that didn’t exist until 2011, doesn’t have any active NBA players, and whose “star” may be a scrawny 17-year-old playing college basketball for Duke.

Even though he only managed to make three of ten shots, Curry still managed to say, “Our brand of basketball is playing defense,” describing how his team plays the game. “However, we also discovered that in our possession, provided we can locate it, we are capable of dominating opposing teams for a duration of forty minutes; this serves as a valuable reminder of both.”Leading the South Sudanese with 25 points and six three-pointers was Marial Shayok, a forward who was born in Canada but plays professionally in China. With 15 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists, Carlik Jones—who has appeared in 12 NBA games over the course of three seasons—produced a triple-double. Contributing 11 points and 6 rebounds was Wenyen Gabriel, a former Los Angeles Lakers colleague of James’s; JT Thor, a former Charlotte Hornets player who is presently unattached, scored 14 points. The South Sudan bench player Khaman Maluach, who is transferring to Duke, scored seven points.

With under four seconds remaining, Jones had a great opportunity for a bank jumper, but he missed; Gabriel then went for the offensive rebound, but he was unable to convert the putback dunk at the buzzer. Anthony Edwards was given the game-saving block by the official scorers, but the South Sudanese were arguing for a foul.

“We got a good shot, we got a rebound and we got a good look at it,” South Sudan coach Royal Ivey, who is an assistant coach with the Houston Rockets, said. Although I am not a referee, I felt Wenyen Gabriel made contact with the ball after receiving it, and the call was wrong. However, I cannot hold the referees responsible for this. There is no complaint because we play the game and then we have to live with the consequences.

The Americans are four-time reigning Olympic champions, while the South Sudanese, who were coached by former NBA superstar Luol Deng, are making their Olympic debut. At the Paris Olympics, on July 31, the two will meet in a pool play-deciding match.

For the first two quarters of the match, South Sudan dominated in every way: speed, discipline, and shooting. The South Sudanese held the Americans to just 1-for-12 shooting from beyond the arc in the first half, while hammering home seven 3-pointers to build a 16-point lead (58-44 at halftime).

According to Kerr, the Americans failed to adequately prepare for their one practice in London. He attributed it in part to the dominating win in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday and the lengthy travel from the UAE to the UK on Tuesday, both of which he claimed prepared him for a “letdown.”

But instead of accepting defeat in a meaningless game, the entire American squad—coaches included—fought for the victory. To increase the ball pressure on Jones and Shayok, Kerr started the second half by switching out his starters for the second unit and replacing second-string point guard Tyrese Haliburton with Derrick White.

“They were a lot faster than the teams we’ve played so far, and we struggled to keep the ball in the first half, so they were able to get open for threes,” Kerr explained. “If our opponents are going to make 14 3-pointers, then they have a legitimate chance,” said the USA basketball squad.

In the third quarter, Kerr reverted to his starting lineup, and James scored his first basket and then assisted Jrue Holiday on a layup. James was unrelenting as he drove to the basket, establishing the tone with multiple dunks and generally pushing the tempo. Additionally, before to inbounding the ball, he appeared to rally the majority of the team following a timeout, as if to urge them to do whatever it takes to emerge victorious.

With third-quarter runs of 21-5 and 16-0, the Americans took control of the game. The score remained tied at 76 with 58 seconds remaining in the first thanks to a 3-pointer by Devin Booker. However, on the following possession, Curry caught a loose ball and shot it from close to the hoop to give his team the lead.

USA took a 7-point lead into halftime, and James was on fire, but Kerr continued his strategy of inserting five replacements at a time. South Sudan fought back to have a shot of winning in the end, and he stayed with White instead of Haliburton.

James, whose previous game in London was the 2012 Olympic gold medal game, noted that “we do not have a lot of time to continue to not take a step forward” before this one. In terms of how tight the game is and all that, it makes no difference. Has anything improved? I had the impression that we gave them a chance to settle in throughout the first half. We got back to our usual basketball game in the second half after they started making 3-pointers.

United States Olympic teams comprised entirely of NBA players have a losing record over the past five summers. These teams typically have All-Stars and, in the case of the 2024 squad, a plethora of players who will go on to become hall of famers.

Although South Sudan pulled off a huge shock in an exhibition game against Nigeria in 2021 in Las Vegas, Team USA lost the game despite the fact that Nigeria’s squad had significantly more NBA skill. After suffering through two defeats in exhibition play and an opening-round setback to France, the United States went on to capture the gold medal that summer in Tokyo.

It seems like there’s a propensity to disappoint sometimes…. According to Kerr, this was a game of “natural letdown” that one would expect. It was a friendly, so I guess that’s why. Collectively, I feel like we lowered our guard as a staff. However, our experience with USA Basketball has shown us that this disparity is becoming smaller.

“Nigeria beat us in a friendly in 2021 in Las Vegas, so it’s not a shock to see a team from South Sudan play really well and knock down 3s,” Kerr continued. “The game has gotten better across the globe, but we still feel like we always control the outcome with our performance, and as good as every other team is now, we still feel like it’s up to us to determine the outcome based on our defense and our effort.

“And I thought that waned tonight for the whole first half and once we picked it up in the second half, it was a game already. And that’s why we were in the fight that we were in.”

The Americans will close out exhibition play Monday against Germany, which won the FIBA World Cup last summer. Team USA is hoping to have Kevin Durant (left calf strain) on the court for that game. He has not played in any exhibition game this summer.