Team USA entered Thursday's semifinal game against Serbia as 16-point favorites. They defeated Serbia 105-79 in their Abu Dhabi exhibition game and blew them out again 110-84 in their group stage match.
Despite the dominance, Hall of Famer Charles Barkley was worried about the American's semifinal matchup against Joker and company because he thought they had not shown what they could do.
"I'm worried about that game," said Barkley on the Dan Patrick Show before Thursday's game. "Because Serbia is playing dead, man. Because those other games didn't matter because they know that's the thing about the Olympics. That first game was just a practice game. It didn't matter at all. The second game didn't matter either because the only thing that matters is when you get to the knockout round."
Barkley was correct
After losing their first game to Team USA, Serbia bounced back with a 107-66 demolition of Puerto Rico and a 96-85 victory over South Sudan. In their quarterfinals assignment, Serbia had to rally from a 24-point deficit to knock off Australia 95-90 and set a third encounter against Team USA in the semifinals.
In their first matchup with the Americans, Serbia made just 9 three-pointers and they entered Thursday's game averaging just 8.8 three-point makes per contest on 27 attempts per game. The Serbians shot nearly 40% from deep on Thursday, making 15 out of 39 shots and almost pulling off a historic upset.
"So I think the United States will win and should win," added Barkley. "But this game scares me because the Joker, he's the best player in the world and I think they're like 'Hey, let's let them win this preseason game, let's let them win this early game. They're going to be overconfident. Because we only got to be better than them for this one game. So I'm really worried about this game."
Team USA clamped down on defense in the 4th
With their three-point shooting success, Serbia led by as many as 17 points and were up 76-63 entering the fourth quarter. That's when Team USA finally tightened their defensive screws and started to rally.
Team USA finally got the lead 87-86 on a Steph Curry three-pointer with only 2:24 left in the game. Serbia finally buckled, and the Americans won the game 95-91. But imagine the disaster that would have happened without Curry's 36 points.
Whether the Americans were overconfident or not, it was Serbia's three-point shooting that kept them in the game. However, they scored only 15 points in the fourth quarter and did not make a three-pointer. As it stands, Team USA will advance to the gold medal game against France. But Charles Barkley's fears almost came true. Thank goodness there was a guy named Steph.
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