LeBron James (6 USA) after the USA Basketball Showcase game between USA and South Sudan at The O2 Arena in London, England. Sports Press Photo

Watch: Team USA narrowly avoids shocking upset to South Sudan

By Adam Gretz | Last updated Jul 21, 2024 9:01 AM ET

The United States men's basketball team played a pre-Olympics showcase game on Saturday in London and narrowly avoided what would have been a stunning upset against South Sudan.

The good news for Team USA is that it did end up winning, 101-100, thanks to a late shot from LeBron James and a close call on the defensive side of the ball in the closing seconds.

The bad news is that it was not an impressive showing, as they trailed for most of the game against a team they were favored to beat by 43.5 points.

Here is the sequence at the end of the game that resulted in the win.

IT'S WHAT HE DOES.

#USABMNT x @FoxSports pic.twitter.com/zGBz6TJ54T
— USA Basketball (@usabasketball) July 20, 2024

It's not exactly what you expect from a 43.5-point favorite.

There will certainly be some strong takes and opinions about that showing, and it should be at least something of a concern as the Olympics approach. Let's face it, a team full of NBA All-Stars should not need that sort of sequence at the end to win that game.

Even with that being true, this was not a game that counted for anything. It was a tune-up and showcase game where they probably did not have the same focus, intensity and game-planning as they would for an actual Olympics game. At least that is what the U.S. should be telling itself after coming that close to what would have been a gigantic upset.

Adam Gretz

Adam Gretz is a freelance writer based in Pittsburgh. He covers the NHL, NFL, MLB and NBA. Baseball is his favorite sport -- he is nearly halfway through his goal of seeing a game in every MLB ballpark. Catch him on Twitter @AGretz

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