Serbian basketball players were defeated in a friendly match in Abu Dhabi by the United States of America as part of the preparations for the Olympic Games in Paris with a score of 105:79.
And it started off great for the chosen ones of Svetislav Pešić…
Aleksa Avramović shone in the opening moments of the game, hitting both for two and for three, on the other hand, Steph Curry was playful from the first second, but the “eagles” kept the advantage and had 12:9, then 14:11, and then dunks by Filip Petrušev and Ognjen Dobrić, the advantage increased to 20:16.
However, the USA team managed to catch the connection on the wings of Curry and reach an equaliser, so that the first part ended with a score of 28:28.
In the second, the “eagles” entered in the best possible way, they tied two three-pointers through Vasilij Micić and Ognjen Dobrić, but the Americans again managed to achieve a turnaround on the wings of Curry (38:36), and after Petrushev scored for a new tie (40:40) a real deluge of “eagles” followed.
It all started with a three-pointer by Curry with a foul by Avramović, followed by Anthony Edwards with a three-pointer, so the Americans went to 47:40 and never came back.
Edwards and Curry were joined by Bem Adebayo in the attack, while in defense the Adebayo – Anthony Davis tandem formed an impenetrable wall, so Steve Kerr’s team had a 14-point difference at halftime (49:35), and that advantage would only grow in the second half. .
Nikola Jokić couldn’t do it alone, only at times he had the support of one of his teammates (mostly Petrushev), while for the USA, Jrue Holiday, LeBron James, Jason Tatham also showed their skills…
In the end – 105:79 and the defeat of the “eagles”, the second in the tournament in Abu Dhabi, after the failure against Australia, 84:73.
Curry finished the match with 24 points, while Adebayo added 17.
Serbia – United States of America 79:105 (28:28, 17:31, 13:24, 21:22)
Serbia: Dobrić 10, Petrushev 11, Jokić 16, Gudurić 8, Avramović 14, Plavđić 4, Micić 8, Marinković 5, Pokuševski, Ristić 3
Did not play: Radanov, Bogdanović, Jaramaz, Milutinov
USA: Tatum 4, James 11, Embiid 8, Curry 24, Holiday 8, Edwards 16, Halliburton, Adebayo 17, Davis 7, Booker 3, White 1, Potter 3, Galloway 3, Hayes Davis
Did not play: Durant