Team USA’s Stephen Curry (4) drives on Australia’s Dyson Daniels during the USA Basketball Showcase in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Monday, July 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
Steph Curry admits playing on a stacked USA Olympic team where he is not expected to carry the offense like he does with the Golden State Warriors in the NBA is requiring a great deal of adjustment.
The star point guard scored just three points in 22 minutes during USA’s 98-92 win over Australia in a warm-up game in Abu Dhabi on Monday that saw the Americans almost blow a 20-point lead in the last 15 minutes.
Lakers center Anthony Davis came off the bench to lead the scoring for USA with 17 points and 14 rebounds, while Minnesota Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards was right behind him with 14 points, four rebounds and two assists.
READ: Team USA holds off Australia in Paris Olympics tuneup
“It’s an adjustment, not just for me, for everybody,” said Curry, who will be making his Olympics debut in Paris this summer.
“Even how we’re rotating the lineups right now, just because we’re trying to get a feel for different combinations.
“You’re going five minutes at a time, then you sit. Hockey subs, that’s different, how we’re playing with the talent around, that’s a different adjustment.
“It’s just a mindfulness of knowing where your shots might come and being ready for those.”
Head coach Steve Kerr had said before the game he planned on testing out different starting lineups during these exhibition games and he did indeed tweak the first unit he used in last week’s win over Canada, keeping LeBron James, Curry, and Joel Embiid but starting Edwards and Jayson Tatum instead of Jrue Holiday and Devin Booker.
READ: LeBron, Steph Curry impress for Team USA in Paris Olympics warm-up
Kevin Durant remains sidelined with a calf strain, while Davis, Booker, Holiday, Bam Adebayo, and Tyrese Haliburton served as the second unit that alternated with the starters throughout the game.
USA led by 20 points midway through the third quarter but the Aussies narrowed their deficit to just six points with five minutes left in the fourth.
Back-to-back threes from Indiana Pacers’ Haliburton briefly got the Americans back on track but the Boomers upped the pressure once again and got dangerously close to erasing the gap.
Australia fight back
Australia’s Jock Landale, Josh Giddey and Dyson Daniels all finished in the double digits and combined for 51 points.
Kerr said Monday’s game -– the second of five friendlies USA will play prior to the Olympics -– was a welcome warning against complacency and a reminder the team can’t take their foot off the gas pedal after building big leads.
He is confident there is enough time for the group -– which is the most star-studded and most decorated to represent USA since the famous Dream Team of 1992 –- to iron out the kinks before their Olympics opener against Serbia in Lille on July 28.
Kerr paid special tribute to Davis, who also found himself in an unfamiliar role on Monday, coming off the bench.
“He was amazing tonight, he’s been fantastic those first 10 days or whatever we’ve been together,” said Kerr.
“Obviously we’ve got a lot of talent, every single guy is capable of starting and playing big minutes.
The strength of our team is our depth and we have to utilize that depth and put pressure on teams for 40 minutes, regardless of the combinations.”
Next up for USA is an exhibition clash on Wednesday in Abu Dhabi against Serbia, who will be led by reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic.
Jokic and his Serbian teammates were in the stands and watched the first half of the USA-Australia game.
“They’re a great team. They’re in our pool in Paris and we’re going to have to beat them when it counts in a couple of weeks but it’ll be good to get a good feel for what we’re going to face,” said Curry of the 2023 World Cup silver medallists.
“They have a very strong, big, physical team and we have to match that physicality and be able to play Team USA basketball. It would be good to get some film on it too.”