Tokyo Olympics: Devin Booker could be the key to USA men’s basketball team as it heads into semi-final action against Australia
- The 24-year-old sharpshooter is only averaging 8.5 points per game so far at Tokyo 2020, compared to 28.2 in the NBA playoffs for the Phoenix Suns
- Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic is lifting a ragtag group of Slovenians into the semi-finals as he is averaging 26.3 points per game
Having to overcome a sluggish start to defeat Spain on Tuesday, Team USA’s star-studded roster has only shown flashes of brilliance heading into Thursday’s semi-finals with a number of key players underperforming, most notably All-Star Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker.
Team USA will play an undefeated Australian squad at 12:15pm (HKT) where they will need more players firing on all cylinders to make it to the gold-medal match, and avoid a repeat of Athens 2004 when they shockingly lost to Argentina in the semi-finals.
04:10
Hong Kong’s greatest Olympics get even better with 2 bronze medals in table tennis and karate
Booker’s play has been a cause for concern so far, as he is only averaging 8.5 points over four games in Tokyo.
Fresh off his first NBA Finals appearance, the 24-year-old sharpshooter shined in the Suns’ six-game series against the Milwaukee Bucks, averaging 28.2 points, four assists and three rebounds per game. He also posted back-to-back 40-point games, becoming only the third player in NBA Finals history to notch two consecutive games with 40 points or more.
However, the Olympics have been another matter, as the Suns guard scored four points on 1-for-6 shooting in his Olympic debut against France, but bounced back in his first start in Team USA’s 120-66 blowout of Iran last Wednesday, where he finished as the squad’s second-highest scorer, collecting 16 points on an efficient 6-for-9 shooting from the field.
But he so far has displayed inconsistency in delivering a much-needed energy to boost Team USA in the games that followed. Last Saturday’s 119-84 victory over the Czech Republic saw Booker pick up his third foul less than a minute into the second half, finishing with five points on just 1-for-3 shooting in nine minutes of action off the bench. He chipped in nine points in Team USA’s victory over Spain on Tuesday, shooting 4-for-13 from the floor and 3-for-11 from three-point range.
