USA Basketball vs. Serbia 2016 Rio Olympics final score: USA narrowly survives for the second straight game

When LeBron James and Steph Curry (among others) announced they’d be skipping the Olympics, we were all told not to worry. The USA is the USA. They still have more talent than anyone else in the Olympics and would cruise to easy wins in each game.

For the second straight game, that was tested. The United States defeated Serbia 94-91 on Friday, in a game that featured the Serbians having a chance to tie the game in the closing seconds.

If the United States don’t make adjustments heading into the medal round, they won’t be taking home the gold, plain and simple.

Kyrie Irving led the US with 15 points. Jimmy Butler added nine off the bench, while Kyle Lowry accounted for two.

Serbian center Nikola Jokic led all scorers with 25 points.

The United States will conclude group play against France on Sunday.