In the semifinals of the Olympic men's basketball team on August 9, Beijing time, United States played against Serbia, and United States started Curry, Booker, Holiday , James and Embiid.
At the beginning of the game, Curry scored two points first, but Serbia returned with five points, but Curry could still score three points and chase five draws. Jokic went down + assists to stretch the score to 10-6. Curry was able to hit a three-pointer to bite a 9-10 lead. Curry then exchanged three points with Serbia to help his team take a 15-13 lead. However, after Serbia defended Curry, Serbia scored consecutive points and regained the advantage at 20-15. Coupled with many errors, the United States lost to Serbia 23-31 in the first quarter.
In the first quarter, the United States was on top of Curry alone. Especially in the first half of the quarter, Curry can score consecutive three-pointers, and 17 points in a single quarter, such dominance is strong enough. Because in this year's Olympics, Curry's shooting percentage has not been very good, and this game can be regarded as his dominance.
James' game is still dominated by blue collars. In the previous games, James was in tandem. In addition to a three-pointer in the first quarter, he also had two assists. Maybe his main focus is still in the last quarter, and now is not the time for him to really stand up.
It's just that the other players didn't play very well. Booker, Embiid and Holiday are all striking iron. Embiid, in particular, is still very porous on the defensive end. At the same time, after the bench came up, the shooting rate was not good, so Brother Thick Mei scored free throws. Fortunately, this is only the first quarter, and if it is compared to the substitutes, the United States still has the advantage.
Serbia, on the other hand, their biggest surprise was because of the high hit rate. Whether it's three-point shooting, counter-attack shooting, or two-point shooting, all of them are dominant. 11-of-17 in the first quarter, which also allowed Serbia to maintain the advantage. But Serbia must maintain that shooting percentage if they want to maintain their advantage in the second three quarters. If the shooting percentage drops, the United States can take away the game in a wave, which is something they have to pay attention to.