Against South Sudan, when it came to scoring the winning basket, Stephen Curry served as a decoy and it was LeBron James who took charge. Against Germany, who had taken the lead in the “money time”, it was again the “King” who took things in hand, scoring the last 11 points for the United States!
“We have a great group and it doesn't matter if it's me, Joel (Embiid), Steph (Curry) or Kevin (Durant) when he comes back.” explains the American flag bearer. “Everyone's going to have their moment and that's the mentality of this team. We all support each other no matter what direction the game goes.”
“We played at a good pace and then, yeah… a guy named LeBron James made some plays at the end.”
But in the absence of Kevin Durant, the United States relies on LeBron James (20 points at 8/11 shooting, 6 rebounds and 4 assists in 18 minutes) in the decisive moments.
“He just put the team on his shoulders. Being LeBron James” summed up Jrue Holiday, while Stephen Curry was also impressed by his 39-year-old teammate. “He’s constantly raising his game. It’s so impressive and inspiring to see. With this team, it’s going to come down to the last five minutes, and we’ll have to see who can make the plays. LeBron did it the entire fourth quarter. We have to support him defensively. It was incredible to see. There’s a reason he is who he is.”
On the other side, Germany seemed to have found the right formula, playing quickly, spreading the game as much as possible and playing the offensive rebound to the full, which greatly disturbed the United States.
“We played at a good pace and then, yeah… a guy named LeBron James made some plays at the end.” Gordon Herbert, the coach of the “Mannschaft”, could only smile.
