USA take down Serbia 105-79 in an exhibition game held in Abu Dhabi, as Stephen Curry pours 24 points.
In what is expected to be a battle between the ultimate favorite for the Olympic gold medal and one of the main contenders for a place on the podium, Team USA takes on Serbia in an exhibition matchup at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi (18:00 CET, 12:00 PM ET).
Anthony Davis, Devin Booker, Anthony Edwards and the USA's hot three-point shooting propelled the US Team to a 98-92 victory over Australia on July 15. Davis led the way with a team-high 17 points and 14 rebounds, while Booker added 16 and Edwards chipped in 14. On July 11, the American side beat Canada 86-72 in its opening scrimmage.
Serbia is 1-1 in pre-Olympic exhibitions after a 79-67 victory over France on July 12 and an 84-73 loss to Australia on July 16. Despite a strong performance from Nikola Jokic, the reigning NBA MVP, who contributed 14 points, 14 rebounds and three assists while shooting 6/10 from the field, the Serbians fell short.
Since 1992, the USA Basketball Men's National Team is taking on its ninth pre-Olympic exhibition tour. The United States boasts a record of 36-3 in pre-Olympic exhibition games.
The USA holds a 1-0 record over Serbia in pre-Olympic tour settings dating back to 2004. The US defeated Serbia-Montenegro 78-60 on August 6, 2004, in a pre-Olympic exhibition in Belgrade, Serbia (Serbia and Montenegro joint state split in 2006).
Up next, Team USA will play exhibition games against South Sudan on July 20 and the current 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup champions Germany two days later.
Serbia will host Greece on July 22 in their last friendly game before traveling to Lille for the main event.
International viewers can stream the game live on YouTube , while US viewers can watch the matchup live on FS1 .
Team USA vs. Serbia live (International stream)
Live Boxscore
- Starters for Team USA: Jayson Tatum, LeBron James, Joel Embiid, Steph Curry, Jrue Holiday.
- Starters for Serbia: Ognjen Dobric, Filip Petrusev, Nikola Jokic, Marko Guduric, Aleksa Avramovic.
- The two sides are tied at 29 apiece after one quarter. Steph Curry scored 9 points at the beginning, but Aleksa Avramovic's 8 points and Nikola Jokic's 6 points and 5 rebounds helped Serbia even out of the contest.
- Serbia count 6 assists and only 2 turnovers after the first 10 minutes.
- Serbia got a 6-point lead (34-28) early in the second quarter, but Steve Kerr's side responded by closing the gap and then increasing their lead to nine (49-40) off the back of two triples by Curry and Edwards.
- Anthony Davis went off on a block spree, stopping three Serbian possessions in a row, while Bam Adebayo converted his attempts from the low post to hand their team a double-digit advantage (56-42). US up by 14 (59-45) at halftime.
- Serbia scored 26 of their 45 half-time points in the paint, as opposed to only 14 by the US squad. The Balkan side went 4/15 from downtown, while Steph Curry raised his team's percentage to over 50% (8/15).
- A 15-0 run by Team USA made it 71-45 for the 2021 Olympic gold medalists with six minutes left to play in the 3rd quarter.
- USA lead 83-58 after 30 minutes, not putting the gas pedal down. Steph Curry leads all scorers with 18 points in 10 minutes of play. Bam Adebayo has 17 and Anthony Edwards 14.
- Steph Curry hit his 6th 3-pointer to make it 95-66 for the US side with six minutes left, while LeBron added more fuel to the fire with several highlights.
- Team USA win 105-79 behind Steph Curry's 24 points.
Team USA basketball exhibition games schedule
| Game | Time | Date | TV | Score |
| vs. Canada | 4:30am CET/10:30pm ET | July 10 | FS1 | 86-72 |
| vs. Australia | 6pm CET/noon ET | July 15 | YouTube / FS1 | 98-92 |
| vs. Serbia | 6pm CET/noon ET | July 17 | YouTube / FS1 | 105-79 |
| vs. South Sudan | 9pm CET/3pm ET | July 20 | FOX | TBD |
| vs. Germany | 9pm CET/3pm ET | July 22 | FOX | TBD |
Serbia exhibition games schedule
| Game | Time | Date | TV | Score |
| vs. France | 9pm CET/3pm ET | July 12 | YouTube | 79-67 |
| vs. Australia | 6pm CET/noon ET | July 16 | YouTube | 73-84 |
| vs. Team USA | 6pm CET/noon ET | July 17 | YouTube / FS1 | 79-105 |
| vs. Greece | TBD | July 22 | TBD | TBD |
