RIO DE JANEIRO — The United States Men's National Team stayed unbeaten at the Olympics with a 94-91 win over Serbia on Friday.
What looked like a blowout early turned into the United States' second straight competitive game, and this one went all the way down to the wire.
The U.S. held Serbia to just two scores on its first 14 possessions and led 23-5 with 3:27 to go in the first. But Serbia climbed back to within single digits by halftime and cut the lead all the way down to three points early with 1:18 to go in the fourth.
The U.S. never could get the stops it needed to pull away, as Serbia scored 29 points on its first 16 possessions of the final period. Serbia had a chance to tie in the final seconds, but Bogdan Bogdanovic missed an open three that would have sent the game to overtime.
Kyrie Irving led six Americans in double-figures with 15 points. Serbia shot 52 percent and was led by the Nuggets' Nikola Jokic, who played his best game of the tournament by far. Jokic finished with 25 points on 11-for-15 shooting. Milos Teodosic added 18 points and six assists.
The U.S. is now 134-5 in Olympic competition and has a 49-game winning streak in international tournaments. It concludes pool play with a game against France (and its five NBA players) on Sunday afternoon.
