USA 3x3 Basketball Move to 2-4 amid Jimmer Fredette Injury: Updated Olympic Standings
The United States men's 3x3 basketball team was scuffling in a major way to start the Olympics, with four straight losses to begin pool play. They possibly salvaged their medal aspirations on Friday, however.
The Americans defeated both France (21-19) and China (21-17) on the day, moving up to fifth in the overall standings with one game remaining against the Netherlands on Sunday.
Here are the updated standings:
- Latvia: 6-0, 12 points, +41 differential
- Serbia: 4-2, 10 points, +9 differential
- Netherlands: 4-2, 10 points, +6 differential
- Lithuania: 3-3, 9 points, +7 differential
- United States: 2-4, 8 points, -8 differential
- France: 2-4, 8 points, -11 differential
- Poland: 2-4, 8 points, -17 differential
- China: 1-5, 7 points, -27 differential
At this point, the United States is fighting to be one of the four play-in teams for the knockout stage of the tournament, and will need to avoid being one of the bottom two finishers. A United States win against the Dutch would all but guarantee a berth in the play-in round, while a loss—paired with either a French or Polish loss—likely would be enough to qualify them as well.
The Americans may have to do it without Jimmer Fredette, however, who has missed the past four games with a lower leg injury. In his wake, Canyon Barry put up a whopping 16 points in the vital matchup against France and 14 against China.
He went off on Friday, and the United States will need that type of performance when it faces a stiffer challenge in the Netherlands.
That match will take place on Sunday at 1:05 p.m. ET on Peacock.
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