LeBron James is often on the receiving end of alley-oops, but during Team USA's Olympic quarterfinal vs. Brazil, James tossed a particularly beautiful pass to Jayson Tatum for a last-second oop before the halftime buzzer.
With 6.3 seconds remaining in the first half, the Americans, leading by 25 points, had one last chance to add onto their advantage before halftime. James, one of the greatest passers in NBA history, served as the sideline inbounds player. And after James got the ball, Tatum feigned a screen and then cut to the basket.
While Brazil covered the play well, leaving very little room for James' pass, it was enough. The ball found its way into the hands of Tatum, who slammed the ball down to extend Team USA's lead to 27.
After the game, Tatum discussed the alley-oop pass from James.
“We had a play, but he just looked at me, so I knew he was doing the backdoor,” Tatum said (h/t ESPN). “That was a hell of a pass. He put it right on the money, so he made it easy for me.”
Team USA head coach Steve Kerr, who has faced James many times as the Golden State Warriors' coach, also gave his opinion on James' notorious passing ability.
“For a guy who truly is a point forward at heart, for him to be the leading scorer in NBA history when that's kind of the secondary thing that he does, he's crazy,” Kerr said. “But that's LeBron.”
Team USA advances to Olympic semifinal rematch vs. Nikola Jokic and Serbia
With a 122-87 victory over Brazil in the quarterfinals, Team USA is now in the semifinals. There, they will face a familiar opponent: Serbia. The Serbians and Americans battled in each team's opening game of the group stage, a contest that ultimately went in Team USA's favor, 110-84.
However, the final score could be misleading in how competitive it was for most of the game; in the 31 minutes three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic played, Serbia and the United States were tied 81-81. In the nine minutes he was sitting on the bench, the Americans outscored Serbia 29-3.
Considering it was the first game of the tournament and a win was not necessary for Serbia to advance to the quarterfinals, it's fair to believe Jokic will play even more in the semifinals. In Serbia's overtime victory against Australia in the quarterfinals, Jokic sat for just six minutes of the 45-minute game, during which he posted 21 points, 14 rebounds, and 9 assists.
The winner of the United States vs. Serbia will play the winner of France vs. Germany in the gold-medal game. Team USA will play at 3 p.m. ET tomorrow.
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