The four teams in Group C all played their second games on Wednesday
Serbia, USA win big on Wednesday
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Serbia led from tip to buzzer in routing Puerto Rico 66-107 on Wednesday at Pierre Mauroy Stadium in Lille. The win lifted Serbia to 1-1 at the Olympic Games and dropped Puerto Rico to 0-2. The teams that finish first and second in each group as well as the two third-place teams with the best records will all advance to the quarterfinals on Tuesday, August 6.
Filip Petrusev of Olympiacos Piraeus scored 15 points and grabbed 9 rebounds and Nikola Jokic tallied 14 points, 15 rebounds and 9 assists to pace seven Serbia scorers in double figures. All 12 Serbian players scored. Christopher Ortiz was the top scorer for Puerto Rico with 19 points.
Petrusev was on point early with 8 points in the first 3 minutes as Serbia raced to a 4-10 start. A Bogdan Bogdanovic triple gave Serbia its first double-digit lead, 6-17, and Olympiacos center Nikola Milutinov’s dunk made it 12-24 after 10 minutes. A pair of Ortiz threes gave Puerto Rico hope at 18-26, but former EuroLeague MVP Vasa Micic scored twice and found Milutinov for a slam in a 0-11 run as Serbia pulled away. Jokic added 8 points in the last 2-and-a-half minutes of the second quarter as Serbia took a comfortable 35-52 halftime lead.
Aleksa Avramovic had the hot hand early in the third quarter and then it was Nikola Jovic as the margin continued to grow, reaching 51-79 with 10 minutes remaining. Milutinov pushed the difference to 30 and Serbia continued to extend its advantage until the final buzzer sounded.
USA races past South Sudan
The United Stats of America clinched a spot in the quarterfinals by beating South Sudan 103-86 in Wednesday’s late game. The Americans sit atop the group at 2-0 and South Sudan is 1-1. Bam Adebayo led the winners with 18 points, Kevin Durant scored 14 and Anthony Edwards 13. The top scorer for South Sudan was Nuni Omot with 24 points, Carlik Jones, who has been linked to Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade for the coming season, produced 18 points and 7 assists, Bul Kuol added 16 and Wenyen Gabriel of Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv collected 10 rebounds before fouling out.
LeBron James scored the game’s first 4 points as the Americans went up 6-0, but South Sudan responded with a 0-7 run and led again 8-10 after a Marial Shayok triple. Durant came off the bench and made an instant impact to give the USA the lead. A Derrick White triple extended the margin to double figures and Adebayo made it 26-14 after 10 minutes. Adebayo and Durant continued to shine, leading what became a 25-4 run. Peter Jok knocked down a three as South Sudan continued to fight. Omot heated up, but the best South Sudan could do was trade baskets. Adebayo’s three from the corner made it 53-33 and the scoreboard showed 55-36 at halftime.
Jayson Tatum gave the USA a 21-point lead to open the second half, but soon a pair of threes by Kuol helped South Sudan trim the gap. More triples by Omot and JT Thor made it 62-52. Edwards stepped up for the Americans, who pushed the difference back up to 19. Shayok’s three-point play ended the third quarter at 73-57. South Sudan reeled off 8 straight points to get within 77-66, but that was as close as it would get. The Americans made one more push to take the margin to 22 and wrap up the win.