Jayson Tatum and Jrue Holiday Provide 9 Assists in US Win vs Australia

Derrick White joined Team USA in Abu Dhabi for the first of two scrimmages against Australia and Serbia. He did not play as Jayson Tatum moved into the starting lineup alongside Anthony Edwards in the look that the US will most likely feature in Paris. Jrue Holiday moved to the bench, while White did not play in a game where Team USA shot to a 24-point lead in the third quarter, then watched it dwindle to four late in the fourth quarter.

The US escaped, 98-92, behind another dominant Anthony Davis display, 17 points and 14 rebounds, including seven on the offensive glass. He also blocked two shots. Tatum added seven points and five assists while shooting 3-for-4. Holiday added five points and four assists.

Jock Landale provided a similar rebounding threat against the Americans that the Canadian front line did early in the first scrimmage. He grabbed his own miss inside for a put-back to start the game before Tatum found LeBron James for three in the corner to open the US scoring. Tatum leaned on passing again to impact the national team, only shooting three times in the first half. He found Edwards for the first of his two early threes that pushed the US ahead 12-8 despite Landale hitting a three and turning all of his three offensive rebounds early into second chance points.

Baskets from Will Magnay, Nick Kay and Josh Giddey tied the game at 19 before the US turned to its defensive second unit with Bam Adebayo and Davis inside, which stifled Australia on six of the final seven possessions of the first and took a 31-21 lead. Holiday hit his first try from three, then stole the ball from Landale before hitting a pull-up two the other way. Tatum didn’t shoot in the first quarter, opening the second with a drive, turn and kick to Steph Curry for three to build a 12 point lead before catching a pass in the corner then driving for a baseline dunk on his first shot attempt.

Adebayo, Holiday, Tatum and Edwards all touched the ball on a long passing sequence plays later before Tatum caught Edwards’ dump-off underneath the rim and dunked again. It took nearly six quarters of Olympic exhibition play for Tatum to find his first three-point attempt, an air ball from the corner that became his only try. Joel Embiid started slow again, but finished the half with a three-point play posting up Giddey and turning into a hook shot. The US led, 53-37. entering halftime.

Holiday opened the second half finding Davis and Devin Booker for baskets inside and out before the US lead mounted to 20 on his pick-and-roll feed to Adebayo. Then, a flood of second half turnovers began that nearly doomed the Americans. Embiid lost the ball down low and Edwards dropped it on the move. Curry turned it over before Davis did on consecutive possessions, allowing the the Australians to hold the line with a 24-23 win in the third after the US turned it over six times in six minutes to begin the frame, finishing with 18 over 40 minutes. Tatum had two and Holiday finished with one.

Australia built on that into the fourth, storming back on a 31-22 finish to get as close as four. Jack McVeigh and Giddey started the run inside. Kay and Mills hit threes and Giddey added a three-point finish to quickly reach within eight. An Adebayo turnover inside allowed Dyson Daniels to extend a 10-0 run on the break, forcing a US timeout and a run of six scoreless possessions between the two sides in a six-point game.

Tyrese Haliburton delivered a three and some breathing room, then another that effectively saved the US from Australia’s second half charge. Giddey and Landale kept pushing, making it a four point game with under two minutes remaining, but Booker’s second chance mid-ranger with 30 seconds left slammed the door.

The US and Serbia face off next in Abu Dhabi at 12 EST on Wednesday.