By KYLE HIGHTOWER AP Sports Writer
Steph Curry was relatively quiet offensively during the U.S. Olympic team’s first two exhibition games before the Paris Games.
He got a lot more assertive on Wednesday with his official Olympic debut less than two weeks away.
Curry scored 24 points, Bam Adebayo added 17 and the U.S. beat Serbia, 105-79, to improve to 3-0 in its five-game slate of exhibitions in advance of the Paris Olympics.
Lakers star Anthony Davis finished with seven points, six rebounds and six blocked shots, helping to lead a U.S. defensive effort that limited Serbia throughout. Anthony Edwards had 16 points. The Lakers’ LeBron James added 11.
Curry scored the first nine points (and 18 in his first 11 minutes) for the U.S. in a flurry that James said was by design.
“We drew it up for that particular reason, to get him going,” James said. “He sees one go through the hoop, you see what it opens up for the rest of his game, for the rest of the game for all of us. He set the tone.”
Curry was subbed out in the second quarter, something that would be uncommon during a Golden State Warriors game given how he was shooting.
“Warriors fans are hating me tonight,” joked Team USA coach Steve Kerr, who also coaches the Warriors. “They hate me every time I take Steph out.”
Curry suspects it might be different when the team gets to Paris.
“I’m pretty sure I get started like I did tonight in the second quarter [in the Olympics] and I probably wouldn’t come out at that point,” Curry said.
The U.S. led by as many as 31 points in the last of a pair of warmup games in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (they beat Australia, 98-92, on Monday). The Americans go to London to play two more tune-ups before heading to France. The first is Saturday against South Sudan, followed by a matchup with Germany on Monday at London’s O2 Arena.
Kerr likes the progress his team has made and said its ability to overwhelm teams with different defensive looks will be vital.
“I think the identity of the team is our depth, the strength of the team is the depth,” Kerr said. “If we can play in four- or five-minute bursts of intense defense, hitting bodies, rebounding, being physical, then it makes sense to play that way. We’ll see if we can keep doing it.”
The U.S. had an uneven start before using a 16-2 run in the second quarter to take a 56-42 advantage and led 59-45 at halftime.
Three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic had 16 points and 11 rebounds for Serbia but was an uncharacteristic 6-of-19 shooting. Aleksa Avramovic added 14 points. Serbia was playing its second game in two days, coming off a loss to Australia on Tuesday and two of its best players, Bogdan Bogdanovic and Nikola Milutinov, didn’t play.
Though Serbia was without Bogdanovic for the second straight game, it struggled offensively, shooting just 41% (29 of 71). The U.S. also held a 30-21 rebounding edge. Adebayo and Davis combined for 14 rebounds.
“Bam and A.D. together are really something,” Kerr said. “Just the switching, but they can also protect the rim and be in a drop if we go to that coverage.”
Adebayo made three 3-pointers as the Americans made 16 total.
“I made the first one so I kept shooting,” said Adebayo, who was serenaded by James as an honorary “splash brother” as they left the court. Adebayo made only 15 3-pointers last season for the Miami Heat.
Wednesday’s matchup was an important preview for the Serbians and U.S., which will both compete in Group C at the Olympics. They open their quests for gold against each other on July 28 and could eventually meet again during the medal rounds, with Serbia considered perhaps the biggest threat to the Americans.
“We’ve still got so much room to improve,” James said. “But we want to continue to get better and not waste opportunities, I felt like tonight we got better.”
FINISHING STRONG
After nearly squandering a big lead in its narrow victory over Australia, there was no such letdown for the U.S. this time.
The Americans led by 25 after three quarters and quickly increased it to 30 in the final quarter.
LINEUP SHUFFLE
The U.S. used its third different starting lineup, going with Curry, Jrue Holiday, Jayson Tatum, LeBron James and Joel Embiid.
The only constants over the three exhibitions have been Curry, James and Embiid.
One of the reason’s Embiid’s presence on the roster was a desire for the U.S. coaching staff this cycle was to counter bigger teams like Serbia, which features a trio of 7-footers.
Embiid’s conditioning still isn’t at its peak after a postseason layoff to allow his knee to heal, but he was active on both ends, finding cutters on the offensive end and being an active deterrent in the lane on defense. He missed several layups and was just 2-of-8 shooting with eight rebounds.
ENERGY SHIFTERS
For the second straight game, the U.S. reserves provided a spark. Edwards, Davis, Tyrese Haliburton, Bam Adebayo and Devin Booker entered the game for the first time with 4:54 remaining in the opening quarter and trailing 16-13.
The U.S. proceeded to outscore the Serbians 15-12 the rest of the period to tie the game at 28 entering the second quarter.
The American reserves accounted for 28 points off the bench in the first half.
STILL NO DURANT
Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant sat for the third straight game as he continues to recover from the calf strain he suffered early during training camp.
But Boston Celtics guard Derrick White made his debut after joining the team over the weekend as the replacement for Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard. White had four rebounds and an assist in just over nine minutes.
