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Team USA Basketball Avoids Major Upset To South Sudan On LeBron James Layup

bruce haring
·2-min read

It was like the South Sudan version of the movie Hoosiers. An African team of discards and college players was hammering Team USA, filled with the world’s best basketball players.

Saturday night at O2 Arena in London, South Sudan got up by as many as 16 points and was poised to enact one of the biggest upsets ever seen in international basketball before Team USA woke up.

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LeBron James led the charge, capping things with a driving layup with eight seconds left to cement a 101-100 victory.

Former Charlotte Hornets forward JT Thor had made a 3-pointer with 20 seconds remaining and South Sudan had three attempts in the final seconds, but couldn’t convert.

The South Sudan team is called the Bright Stars. It is the first team to represent the country in the Olympics.

“I did not do a great job preparing our team, I think we did not focus enough on what they’re capable of and that’s on me,” Team USA coach Steve Kerr said. “They played a wonderful game and the ending was good for us just to feel that. To feel what it’s going to be like in Paris and Lille … a good reminder that when we play against teams, it’s the biggest game of their lives and we have to expect everyone to play like that.”

James scored 25 points and sparked a 23-5 run from late in the third quarter to early in the fourth.

“Don’t take nothing away from South Sudan,” James said. “They played extremely good basketball and that’s why the game is won in between the lines and not all on paper.”

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