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Team USA Beats Czech Republic Behind Tatum's 27
7/31/2021 10:27:00 PM | Men's Basketball
TOKYO (USA Basketball) — After a sluggish start, the U.S. Olympic Men's Basketball Team (2-1) earned a spot in the quarterfinals of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 with a 119-84 win over the Czech Republic (1-2) in the final Group A game at Saitama Super Arena on Saturday night.
The win locked up second place in the group for the U.S behind undefeated France (3-0). The Americans' 82-point differential across their three games means they most likely will be the top second-place group finisher and enter the quarterfinals in Pot D with the three group winners.
Former Duke men's basketball player Jayson Tatum scored 21 of his game-high 27 points in the second half. Kevin Durant scored 23 points and racked up team highs with eight rebounds and six assists on a night he passed Carmelo Anthony to become the all-time leading U.S. men's Olympic scorer.
Durant started the game with 331 points and pulled even with Anthony's record 336 points in the first quarter before taking over the No. 1 spot. He now has 354 career Olympic points. Durant also nabbed eight rebounds and dished out six assists.
"You just think about all the players that have played in this program," Durant said. "It's pretty cool to be amongst names like that. Carmelo is a guy that I played on two Olympic teams with, and I've seen his approach to these games and I've tried to steal some of his techniques.
"It's still pretty weird for me to do stuff like this because I play a team sport, and I try my hardest to make it about the group. But it is special to do something like that. Scoring is something I've worked on my whole career and expanded my whole career. To consistently do it is pretty cool."
Zach LaVine and Jrue Holiday, both of whom battled hard on defense, chipped in with 13 and 11 points, respectively. JaVale McGee added 10 points in the final 4:12 of the game.
Blake Shilb led the Czechs with 17 points, 14 of which came in the first half. Captain Tomas Satoranksy tallied 12 points, six rebounds and eight assists. Big men Ondrej Balvin and Jan Vesely caused problems down low for the U.S, combining for 28 points.
If the U.S. is the top second-place group finisher, it will enter the quarterfinals in Pot D with the three group winners. The other two second-place group finishers and the top two third-place group finishers will make up Pot E.
There will be a draw to match the Pot D and Pot E teams in their quarterfinal matchups. It will take place after the Group C game between Slovenia (2-0) and Spain (2-0) scheduled to tip off at 4:20 a.m. EDT on Sunday.
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The win locked up second place in the group for the U.S behind undefeated France (3-0). The Americans' 82-point differential across their three games means they most likely will be the top second-place group finisher and enter the quarterfinals in Pot D with the three group winners.
Former Duke men's basketball player Jayson Tatum scored 21 of his game-high 27 points in the second half. Kevin Durant scored 23 points and racked up team highs with eight rebounds and six assists on a night he passed Carmelo Anthony to become the all-time leading U.S. men's Olympic scorer.
Durant started the game with 331 points and pulled even with Anthony's record 336 points in the first quarter before taking over the No. 1 spot. He now has 354 career Olympic points. Durant also nabbed eight rebounds and dished out six assists.
"You just think about all the players that have played in this program," Durant said. "It's pretty cool to be amongst names like that. Carmelo is a guy that I played on two Olympic teams with, and I've seen his approach to these games and I've tried to steal some of his techniques.
"It's still pretty weird for me to do stuff like this because I play a team sport, and I try my hardest to make it about the group. But it is special to do something like that. Scoring is something I've worked on my whole career and expanded my whole career. To consistently do it is pretty cool."
Zach LaVine and Jrue Holiday, both of whom battled hard on defense, chipped in with 13 and 11 points, respectively. JaVale McGee added 10 points in the final 4:12 of the game.
Blake Shilb led the Czechs with 17 points, 14 of which came in the first half. Captain Tomas Satoranksy tallied 12 points, six rebounds and eight assists. Big men Ondrej Balvin and Jan Vesely caused problems down low for the U.S, combining for 28 points.
If the U.S. is the top second-place group finisher, it will enter the quarterfinals in Pot D with the three group winners. The other two second-place group finishers and the top two third-place group finishers will make up Pot E.
There will be a draw to match the Pot D and Pot E teams in their quarterfinal matchups. It will take place after the Group C game between Slovenia (2-0) and Spain (2-0) scheduled to tip off at 4:20 a.m. EDT on Sunday.
#GoDuke
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