SI

Anthony Edwards, Joel Embiid Combine for Sizzling Sequence in Team USA-Germany Clash

The two All-Stars put an exclamation point on Team USA's first half performance.

Liam McKeone

Joel Embiid with the block
Joel Embiid with the block / Screenshot via USA Basketball official X (formerly Twitter) account
In this story:

On Monday, Team USA suited up to play against Germany in another Olympic exhibition men's basketball matchup—this one in London.

The American side suffered quite a scare the last time they took the court, squeaking past South Sudan,101-100 thanks to a huge comeback effort spearheaded by forward LeBron James. So the expectation coming into today's contest was that Team USA would play like they wanted to remind everyone who's the king of Olympic basketball.

And they did! For a quarter. USA entered the post-first quarter break up double digits on the Germans. But the gap was quickly closed and late in the second quarter the U.S. found itself in need of a spark with Germany only a few points back.

Enter center Joel Embiid and guard Anthony Edwards, two first-time Olympians who do not lack for swagger or skill. The pair combined for maybe the most electric sequence of early Olympic play right when Team USA needed it. Embiid made an excellent play to recover and block a dunk, allowing Edwards to race out in transition, pull off a sweet crossover move, and jam it home.

It was awesome.

How about an in-arena angle?

Tremendous stuff. This is what Olympic basketball is all about for the American audience. An epic block by one of the best defenders in the game, capitalized upon by one of the best dunkers in the game. No matter who suits up for Team USA, sequences like this always rule.

Germany kept the contest close despite it all. Team USA will need more than a few highlight-reel plays to remain undefeated—and eventually claim a gold medal in Paris.

Published
Liam McKeone

LIAM MCKEONE

Liam McKeone is a senior writer for the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in the industry as a content creator since 2017, and prior to joining SI in May 2024, McKeone worked for NBC Sports Boston and The Big Lead. In addition to his work as a writer, he has hosted the Press Pass Podcast covering sports media and The Big Stream covering pop culture. A graduate of Fordham University, he is always up for a good debate and enjoys loudly arguing about sports, rap music, books and video games. McKeone has been a member of the National Sports Media Association since 2020.

Home/Olympics