Team USA remains undefeated in their exhibition games this summer, but it wasn’t because of a lack of effort from their opponents. South Sudan nearly pulled off a nail-biter, but Team USA was able to get the final defensive stop utilizing a lineup featuring Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo. Team USA won 101-100.
Bam struggled early in this game. He had three fouls early into the second quarter. It is important to point out that unlike the NBA where a player fouls out at six fouls, FIBA rules mean that only five fouls are needed.
As talented as Team USA is, it is still clear that they cannot afford to play careless. The team continued to suffer from turnover issues. Their defense struggled in the first half; South Sudan shot over 50 percent from the field in the first half. The absence of Adebayo for most of the second quarter did not help with that. After the first half, Team USA trailed South Sudan 58-44 despite being 40 point favorites to win the game.
Bam made up for his mistakes in the second half. He started the second half with Anthony Edwards, Derrick White, Jayson Tatum and Anthony Davis. This unit cut the lead to five points before the starters returned and helped Team USA regain the lead.
Adebayo was less impactful in this exhibition than he was against Serbia. He only finished with two points and one rebound. However, his defensive presence on the court in the second half and in the game's final seconds was important for securing the victory for Team USA. The team will need a better effort from Bam in the future to avoid situations like this one, where they had a real chance of losing.