Team USA escaped O2 Arena in London with a 101-100 win over South Sudan in an exhibition game on Saturday. LeBron James made what turned out to be the game-winning layup with eight seconds left and finished with a team-high 23 points on 9-for-13 shooting, six rebounds and six assists in 23 minutes.
Here’s the game-winner:
South Sudan led by 14 points at halftime, took a one-point lead late in the fourth quarter and had a chance to win on the final possession. In the final seconds, Carlik Jones missed a floater, Wenyen Gabriel missed an attempted putback and Anthony Edwards stripped the ball from Gabriel, allowing the United States to hold on.
Jones, the 2023 NBA G League MVP, had a 15-point, 11-assist, 11-rebound triple-double for South Sudan. Marial Shayok scored a game-high 25 points on 9-for-16 shooting, including 6-for-12 from deep.
The United States (barely) overcame a massive disparity beyond the arc. South Sudan made 14 of their 33 3-point attempts (42.4%), while Team USA went 7-for-28 (25%) and missed 12 of their first 15 attempts.
Next up for Team USA: Another exhibition game in London. They will play Germany on Monday at 3 p.m. ET.
