The quest for a fifth straight gold medal for Team USA was put on life alert Thursday evening. USA Basketball, led by LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant, found themselves in an all-out brawl for a spot in the gold medal match against Serbia at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
Nikola Jokic put Serbia in a position where they flat-out dominated the Americans for almost the entire game. However, it was James and Curry who put the entire nation on their backs and led Team USA to a 95-91 victory over the Serbians.
Curry finished the game with 36 points and nine made threes, as James recorded a 16-point, 12-rebound, and 10-assist triple-double.
All in all, this was perhaps the scariest game Team USA has faced in quite some time. Whether it was Jokic, Bogdan Bogdanovic, or someone else, the Serbians always seemed to have the answer against Team USA. Just because they advanced doesn't necessarily mean the Americans aren't in trouble.
If there is anything that can be a main takeaway from this game, it is that Steve Kerr's rotations aren't always working.
Steve Kerr's questionable Team USA rotations
Team USA had no right to win this game on Thursday night. Quite honestly, it is shocking that they find themselves in the gold medal match against France.
Jokic and Serbia had this game won, and their fourth-quarter collapse ultimately led to USA Basketball being able to grab victory from the jaws of defeat. Curry did everything he could to lift the Americans to victory, as did James.
But the underlying problem, which has been discussed throughout the course of Team USA's Olympic journey, is Kerr's rotations and inability to make adjustments on the fly.
The same starting lineup from the game before kicked things off for Team USA against Serbia: Curry, James, Jrue Holiday, Devin Booker, and Joel Embiid. There has been nothing wrong with this lineup, yet Curry was the only player able to get anything going offensively to begin the game with 17 points in the opening quarter. An eight-point first-quarter deficit for the United States ballooned to a 17-point lead for the Serbians halfway through the second quarter.
This is really where things got out of hand. The constant lineup changes Kerr made resulting, in him taking James and Curry off the floor, as well as only giving Durant around seven minutes in the first half, made many scratch their heads.
Derrick White saw time on the floor in the first half over Jayson Tatum, who again didn't see any minutes. Bam Adebayo, who was -15 for the game, was seeing time over Anthony Davis and Joel Embiid. Not to mention, Adebayo was on the court and looking to attempt three-point shots, which he has shot 22.1 percent from for his NBA career, with Team USA trailing by double digits.
Of course, there were also concerns about Anthony Edwards not playing well either, but Kerr insisted on keeping him on the floor despite the Serbians' dominance.
In the end, Team USA came out on top, and there is nothing to worry about. However, there is still another game to be played, only this time for a gold medal.
The constant rotation changes Kerr has made to try and get all of his team's superstars involved have not worked. In fact, it has only created more problems. The only reason USA Basketball is still alive in this tournament is because of James, Curry, and Durant. Although Embiid played a big role on offense, he was exposed at times defensively by Jokic in Serbia's high pick-and-roll sets.
It has become abundantly clear that Curry, James, and Durant must be on the court for the vast majority of the game. These are Team USA's three-best players, yet Durant didn't see a lot of time on the floor until the second half.
Was this intentional, or was it a mistake by Kerr to overlook Durant in order to give the younger stars of the team more minutes? The same questions can be asked about Curry and James being forced to the bench in the second quarter, with Team USA facing their greatest deficit in quite some time during the Olympics.
The bottom line is that these constant lineup and rotation changes can't happen any more, especially if the Americans are to win their fifth straight gold medal. At this point, Team USA and Kerr need to just go for it and play their best players for as long as they can possibly be on the court. There is no reason for James, Curry, or Durant to sub out at any point in the fourth quarter, and all three champions know what it takes to win at this stage.
Kerr and his rotations are the reason the Americans faced this scare on Thursday. It would come as a shock if this matchup against Serbia and what transpired with his lineups didn't serve as a wake-up call to the national team's head coach.
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