U.S. topples South Sudan to make Olympic basketball quarters - ESPN

LILLE, France — Worrying about which superstar player might not play on a given night isn't Team USA's problem, it could end up the trademark.

This team's unrelenting depth will continue to lead to some uncomfortable moments when the coaching staff grapples with how to manage it all, but it fuels the Americans as they work toward trying to take a fifth consecutive gold medal.

On Wednesday, depth was again the engine in a 103-86 win against upstart South Sudan that moved Team USA to 2-0 in Olympic play and punched its ticket into next week's quarterfinals.

The Americans' bench was devastating, racking up 66 points (compared with just 14 from South Sudan's) and going on two key runs that essentially defined the game.

Former NBA Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid went from starter to never getting off the bench Wednesday. Jayson Tatum, who was benched in the previous game, moved into the starting lineup.

As a result, Bam Adebayo, who got extended minutes because Embiid sat, had perhaps his best game ever with the national team. He came off the bench with 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting with seven rebounds as the leader among six players who scored in double figures.

And U.S. coach Steve Kerr made it clear this is the way it's going to be.

«We have an embarrassment of riches on this roster, that's the best way to put it,» Kerr said. «I mean these guys are all champions, All-Stars, Hall of Famers, however you want to put it. So the whole thing is are we committed to the goal? That's it. That's it.»

Kevin Durant reprised his bench role and provided his traditional firepower with 14 points, and Derrick White put in 10 points with three steals and a block among a string of excellent defensive plays.

In the win over Serbia on Sunday,