Ahead of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, Team USA has several exhibition games to prepare themselves. The Americans are part of Group C this year which features Serbia, South Sudan, Puerto Rico, and the USA. Team USA has already played in two exhibition matches so far.
Last week, the Americans were in Las Vegas for their first tune-up game vs. Team Canada. It was a hard-fought win for Team USA against a talented Canadian roster. Yesterday, the Americans were overseas in what was their first of three games in Abu Dhabi. The Americans faced a familiar opponent in Team Australia. Despite letting the Aussies make a comeback in the 4th quarter, Team USA still won 98-92. Their next matchup is Wednesday vs, Nikola Jokic and Serbia.
Team USA will face Serbia in an exhibition match on Wednesday in Abu Dhabi
🇺🇸 Team USA vs Serbia 🇷🇸 Who is going to take this friendly game? 👀 pic.twitter.com/TTX44BVS78
— BasketNews (@BasketNews_com) July 16, 2024
Tomorrow’s exhibition match between the United States and Serbia will air on FS1 at noon EST. International viewers can go to YouTube TV to watch the game. The Americans will be facing off against Serbia and their best player, three-time NBA league MVP, Nikola Jokic. Three other NBA players join Jokic on Serbia’s Olympic basketball roster in 2024. They include Vasilije Micic (Hornets), Bogdan Bogdanovic (Hawks), and Nikola Jovic (Heat). Additionally, they have a free agent and former Thunder first-round pick Aleksej Pokusevski.
Team USA is still trying to iron out the wrinkles with all the talent they have on their roster. Head coach Steve Kerr went with a slightly different lineup in the Americans’ second exhibition game. Against Canada, Jrue Holiday and Devin Booker were in the starting lineup. However, they were replaced by Jayson Tatum and Anthony Edwards when they played Australia on Monday. The Americans have so much talent that Steve Kerr has the luxury of making tweaks to who is starting.
Processing.
🇺🇸 #USABMNT x 📺 @FS1 pic.twitter.com/Jb9jbBFz0l
— USA Basketball (@usabasketball) July 15, 2024
One player who’s been struggling through Team USA’s first two games is 76ers MVP center Joel Embiid. The talented big man was recruited to play for the Americans when he had other options. While Embiid is one of the best players in the NBA, he hasn’t looked that way in international play. There’s still time for Embiid to find more cohesiveness with his teammates. He’ll have a tough matchup on Wednesday when he goes head-to-head with Nikola Jokic.
