On Friday, LeBron James will carry the US flag. But first, he carried the US men's basketball team.
Again.
James scored the final 11 points for the Americans down the stretch as the four-time reigning Olympic gold medallists held off World Cup champions Germany 92-88 in London on Monday night in their final tune-up before the Paris Games start later this week.
Announced earlier in the day as the male flagbearer for the Americans in Friday night's opening ceremony down the River Seine, James came through time and time again down the stretch, just as he did over the weekend when his layup with eight seconds left gave the US a 101-100 win over upstart South Sudan.
James had 20 points for the US, while Joel Embiid scored 15, Stephen Curry had 13 and Anthony Edwards finished with 11.
“It was a good test for us. And I’m glad we were able to once again, you know, keep our composure, persevere like we did the other day versus South Sudan," James said.
Franz Wagner led Germany with 18 points. Andreas Obst - the hero of last year’s German win over the US in the World Cup semi-finals - had 14, while Dennis Schroder had a 13-point, 10-assist night.
The Americans finished their exhibition slate 5-0, but there was only one game that was a true cakewalk. That was against Serbia, the team that'll face the US on Sunday in the first Olympic game for both teams.
Canada gave the US issues at times, Australia came from way back to make things interesting at the end, South Sudan nearly pulled off an upset as a 43.5-point underdog and the Germans had the lead over the US with four minutes left.
Then it was James' time. He outscored Germany 11-6 by himself in the final 3:57.
“We've had every experience,” Curry said. “Now it's obviously a matter of showing up when the lights are bright next week. I think we're ready. I think we're prepared. Now we have to perform.”
For the second consecutive game, the US got outscored by 21 points from 3-point range.
Germany were 13 for 45 from beyond the arc, the US were 6 for 17.
South Sudan outscored the U.S. 42-21 from deep on Saturday.
Also not helping the US cause they had 14 turnovers to Germany’s seven.
Kevin Durant got some pregame shots up again, just as he did Saturday in London. And, again, that was the extent of his game-night action.
The three-time gold medallist did not play while he continues to recover from the calf strain he suffered a few days before the US convened for training camp in Las Vegas.
Durant missed all five pre-Olympic games exhibitions, though he did practice this past weekend. He has not appeared in a real game since late April, when Phoenix was swept in a first-round NBA playoff series by Minnesota.-
