Team USA basketball has survived another scare.
As the clock expired, Bogdan Bogdanovic missed a wide open three-pointer that would have tied the game, and Team USA held on to beat Serbia, 94-91, in the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro on Friday night.
This game was much closer than anyone could have expected.
Early on, it looked like the United States was going to run away it, taking a 9-0 lead right out of the gate and stretching their advantage to 27-9 later in the first quarter.
However, Serbia then went on a 9-0 run to cut the lead to single digits between the first and second periods, and the Americans were in a dogfight the rest of the way.
The Serbians never got any closer than three points, but they put pressure on Team USA for the remainder of the game, using slick passing and savvy offensive sets to poke holes in the USA defense for easy buckets.
Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic led Serbia and all scorers with 25 points.
Former NBA big man Miroslav Raduljica was especially tough, scoring 18 points off 6-of-8 shooting before fouling out in the fourth quarter.
Point guard Milos Teodosic, arguably the best playmaker outside of the NBA, finished with 18 points and six assists.
Six USA players scored in double figures, with Kyrie Irving leading the way with 15.
However, the Americans allowed Serbia to shoot 51.7 percent from the floor and gave up 10 three-point makes.
Next up for the United States is a matchup with Tony Parker and France on Sunday at 1:15 p.m. ET.
Courtesy:Bleacher Report
