USA HC Kerr 'Felt Like an Idiot' Not Playing Jayson Tatum vs. Serbia; Will Play Wed.

Jayson Tatum did not play during the United States' 110-84 win over Serbia, and confirmed to reporters after the game that he wasn't sick or injured.

"I went with the combinations that made sense," head coach Steve Kerr told reporters while speaking about Tatum's lack of playing time. "That was for tonight. He handled it well. He'll make his mark."

Kerr added: "I felt like an idiot not playing him... [In] a 40-minute game, you can't play more than 10."

Kerr confirmed that Tatum will play in USA"s next game vs. South Sudan. "Jayson will play [Wednesday]," Kerr said. "I'm not going to answer your next question, which is if he plays, who doesn't. But we're going to need him, and part of this job for me is to keep everybody engaged and ready, because my experience with this is crazy stuff happens."

Kerr went with a starting lineup of Joel Embiid, LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Jrue Holiday and Devin Booker, while the second unit was comprised of Kevin Durant, Anthony Edwards, Derrick White, Anthony Davis and Bam Adebayo.

Neither Tatum or Tyrese Haliburton saw the floor.

"The hardest part of this job is you're sitting at least a couple of guys who are world-class, some of the very best players on Earth," Kerr said. "On one hand, it makes no sense at all. On the other, I'm asking these guys to just commit to winning one game and then move on to the next one. I have to do the same thing. And so I felt like last night those were the combinations that made the most sense."

It's very likely that Durant—who led all scorers with 23 points off the bench—will return to the starting lineup now that he's healthy. That will bump Booker to the bench, meaning players like him, Edwards and Tatum will be fighting for minutes on the wing.

It's hard to imagine Edwards being removed from the rotation, leaving Tatum and Booker to fight for minutes. Team USA could try to utilize both, with Booker being more of a playmaking point guard, but that would leave more natural options at the 1 like White and Haliburton on the bench instead.

The tricky thing for Kerr is figuring out which superstar players fit together and best handle specific roles. Holiday isn't a better overall player than other options at the 2, necessarily, but his defense and secondary playmaking offers lineup balance. The United States also seems likely to keep the Curry-James-Embiid triumvirate in the starting lineup, while Durant should fit seamlessly into that group.

Different opponents may call for different approaches, however, and Tatum's one-on-one scoring ability could provide a spark off the bench at some point during these Games. It seems unlikely that he'll go unused for the entire tournament.