LeBron James saves Team USA from upset, escapes South Sudan

United States’ forward LeBron James waves to the crowd after the end of an exhibition basketball game between the United States and South Sudan, at the o2 Arena in London, Saturday, July 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

LeBron James saved the U.S. from what would have been a stunning loss.

James’ layup with 8 seconds left was the go-ahead basket Saturday, and the U.S. Olympic team that’ll soon head to the Paris Games escaped with a 101-100 win over South Sudan in London, rallying from a 16-point deficit to avoid perhaps the biggest upset in the program’s history.

South Sudan, the African nation that gained its independence just 13 years ago and is about to play in the Olympics for the first time, led for more than half the game and had a chance to win at the end. But Carlik Jones’ runner off the glass missed with about 4 seconds left, and the Americans survived.

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IT'S WHAT HE DOES. 🥶

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— USA Basketball (@usabasketball) July 20, 2024

“I’m going to be honest: I like those better than the blowouts,” James said as he walked off the court. “At least we get tested.”

Oh, they got tested — by a team that came into the game as 43.5-point underdogs , according to BetMGM Sportsbook.

“A good reminder that when we play against teams, it’s the biggest game of their lives,” U.S. coach Steve Kerr said. “We have to expect everyone to play like that.”

Down by 16 at one point, the Americans dug out of that hole with an 18-0 run in the second half — then needed heroics at the end anyway. JT Thor’s 3-pointer with 20 seconds left gave South Sudan a 100-99 lead, then the Americans called timeout and put the ball in James’ hands.

He made it look easy: He waited, waited, waited, then drove and laid it in with ease to put the U.S. back on top, and the Americans got the stop they needed at the end.

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James finished with a game-high 25 points, six rebounds and seven assists for the U.S., which improved to 4-0 with one game left — Monday vs. World Cup champion Germany — on its pre-Olympic exhibition tour. Anthony Davis added 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Americans.

Marial Shayok had 24 points for South Sudan and Jones had a triple-double — 15 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists.

The teams will meet in group play in the Paris Olympics on July 31.

“It’s basketball. It happens,” U.S. guard Stephen Curry said. “You want to play perfect every game; it doesn’t happen. But can you dig deep and do the little things that help you win? Offense can come and go, but defense is the thing that helps you win championships, medals, all that stuff.”

It should have been a mismatch, and for the first half, it was — just not in the way anyone would have expected.

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The U.S. roster has 12 players, all of them All-Stars or NBA champions or both, with a total of 189,038 points in their regular-season careers, with 7,832 combined starts. South Sudan has four players who have appeared in an NBA game. They’ve scored a combined 1,228 points and started 19 games.

Didn’t matter. It was 8-0 U.S. after 2 1/2 minutes. The rest of the half: South Sudan 58, U.S. 34. The Americans allowed South Sudan to shoot 61% in the first half and got outscored 21-3 from 3-point range in the first 20 minutes.

“I did not do a great job preparing our team,” Kerr said. “We did not focus enough on what they’re capable of, and that’s on me. I think that really allowed South Sudan to gain confidence early. … They were great. 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.”

An 18-0 run in the second half — James involved in most of it — was what really saved the U.S., turning a 76-65 deficit into an 83-76 lead.

South Sudan led by 16 late in the first half — 58-42 — before the Americans got the last basket to cut the deficit to 14 at the break.

But the 18-0 run was key. James had four assists during the spurt and Curry, from about 35 feet, connected on a 3-pointer late in the third that gave the U.S. its first lead since the first quarter at 79-76.

Wenyen Gabriel banked in a 3-pointer to get South Sudan within 85-84, but James — his former teammate with the Los Angeles Lakers — connected on a 3 on the ensuing U.S. possession, and the Americans would eventually pull through by the slimmest of margins.

“Today we were able to represent our country with pride and we put up a good fight and showed the potential of our country,” Gabriel said. “I think it was a proud moment for a lot of people.”

Davis said the team got to the arena late, thrown off by standstill London traffic, and that routines going into the game were disrupted. Maybe so, but South Sudan showed the U.S. that nobody at the Olympics will concede anything to the four-time defending gold medalists.

“Doesn’t matter when it comes to how close the game is,” James said. “We went out there to get better.”