PARIS — Four U.S. men’s basketball games at the 2024 Paris Olympics, four different leading scorers.
Against Brazil in the quarterfinals Tuesday, it was Devin Booker’s team-high 18 points that propelled the U.S. to a dominant 109-78 victory and into the semifinals against Serbia on Thursday.
“Just trying to knock down the open shot,” said Booker, who was 6-for-9 shooting, including 5-for-7 on 3s. “When you have shooters like Steph (Curry), and playmakers like LeBron (James), you’re going to find yourself open.”
Booker was one of five U.S. players in double figures, and the Phoenix Suns All-Star guard continues to have a strong Olympics in the shadow of bigger stars.
Booker recorded his third game with at least 10 points, had an Olympics-high against Brazil and is shooting 56.7% from the field and 62.5% on 3-pointers.
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Kevin Durant led the U.S. scoring in their Olympics opener. Bam Adebayo topped the scoreboard in the second game and Anthony Edwards led the way in the third game.
“That’s what our team is built on, depth, and any night we can have anybody get it going as far as the scoring load and Book had it from the start all the way to the finish,” James said.
U.S. coach Steve Kerr has emphasized defense and rebounding, and with so much offense on the team, Kerr figures it will come from somewhere even if he doesn’t know exactly where.
In the NBA, that would be a problem. It would be a problem for some other Olympic teams, such as Serbia or Germany. There needs to be a hierarchy of where points originate. But not on this team.
“There’s no real challenge with it other than just reminding the team that that’s the beauty and the strength of our team is that it can be any one of these guys there,” Booker said. “They all have to carry their franchises individually when they go back to the NBA. We know they’re capable of carrying our team on any given day, but we don’t know who it’s going to be. And that’s the strength of the team. As long as we play the right way and move the ball and somebody’s going to get hot. That’s how we feel.”
Even Curry acknowledged it’s a little strange playing that way, but that’s just part of basketball at the Olympics. If Curry doesn’t make his first couple of shots, he might not get another chance to get hot.
“Everybody has to be ready for your moment whenever it is,” Curry said, “and I think that’s a challenge because again, you don’t know from quarter to quarter from game to game who it’s going to be. It’s a fun way to play if you’re bought into it. Let’s just win the basketball game and who cares what it looks like. It’s easier said than done because we’re all not used to that. But it’s a fun way to play, especially for six game(s) that we’re trying to win.”
Booker has quietly become one of the most important players for the U.S. – a guard who can defend, get his points with his jump shot, especially at the 3-point line, and post up smaller guards.
He won a gold medal with the U.S. at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and arrived at training camp in Las Vegas in July willing to do whatever is necessary to win a second gold.
“I was not always a star of a team,” Booker said. “I was a sixth man in college, so I’ve always approached the game with whatever I have to do to get on the court and be effective and just understanding the talent that’s around and how the game is different over there and having that experience last Olympics. That has put me in the right mindset from day one.”
Follow NBA reporter Jeff Zillgitt on social media @JeffZillgitt
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