Joel Embiid isn’t Team USA’s secret weapon after all.
It’s the combination of Anthony Davis and Bam Adebayo proving capable of pushing the Americans to a gold medal in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
USA Basketball, after all, had to compete with France for Embiid’s services in his first-ever Olympic Games.
The Philadelphia 76ers MVP ultimately chose to represent the USA because his son was born in the United States.
Embiid had eight points, eight rebounds and three assists in 16 minutes against Serbia on Wednesday. His minutes on the floor have not looked fluid.
Davis and Adebayo, meanwhile, have been a revelation. The kind of revelation that can propel Team USA to gold this summer.
Davis came off the bench to block six shots, and Adebayo scored 17 points and made three 3-pointers. The four-five combo helped turn a tied game at the end of the first quarter into a blowout 105-79 victory in Team USA’s third of five exhibition “Showcase” games before the Olympic group stage begins on July 28.
Team USA will now travel to London to play their final two exhibition games against South Sudan on Saturday, then Germany in the finale next Monday.
And when the games begin to count in Lille, France, on July 28, Team USA will face the same opponent it unraveled in a dominant display against the NBA’s reigning MVP on Wednesday.
Nikola Jokic led Serbia with 16 points and 11 rebounds, but he recorded just two assists against Team USA. The Americans outscored the Serbians by 27 in the just over 28 minutes Jokic logged on Wednesday.
Many of those minutes were played against the combination of Davis and Adebayo, which propelled Team USA into a 16-2 run to close the third quarter.
USA coach Steve Kerr found success when he turned to the second unit, where both Davis and Adebayo shared the responsibilities of defending Jokic. Anthony Edwards came off the bench to score 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the field.
And Stephen Curry had his breakout performance of his first career Olympic run.
Curry made six 3s on nine attempts and shot 8 of 13 from the field for 24 points in Team USA’s third straight win.
Jokic did not return to the game after the third quarter, when Serbia was down by 25.
The dominant victory for Team USA reasserts the country’s position atop the Olympic basketball food chain.
Despite Kawhi Leonard withdrawing early and Kevin Durant missing the first three games with a calf injury, Team USA has already beaten two of the top three teams gunning for gold.
The Americans opened the Showcase with an 86-72 victory over a Canadian national basketball team flooded with NBA talent, including Oklahoma City’s MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Denver Nuggets point guard Jamal Murray, former Knicks forward RJ Barrett and Houston Rockets irritant Dillon Brooks.
They blew a 23-point lead and survived a furious Australian comeback in a 98-92 victory in Game 2 of the Showcase. Team Australia is not expected to medal at the Olympics this year.
Then the Americans thoroughly handled Serbia on Wednesday, and while Serbia has missed star scorer Bogdan Bogdanovic, USA is still awaiting Durant’s return.
Durant will return to one of the most loaded Olympic basketball rosters of all time. LeBron James, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer for example, scored only 11 points and dished two assists in a debilitating defeat for Serbia, which has to go up against the same stacked USA roster to open the group stage on July 28.
It’s the frontcourt depth that’s making all the difference at the Olympic level. Team USA has just that, and even if Embiid doesn’t get into the dominant scoring groove he’s accustomed to in Philadelphia, it’s OK, because he’s not the secret weapon.
Davis and Adebayo are, and Team USA could be headed to another gold medal because of them.