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Brian Windhorst, ESPN Senior Writer
LONDON — Here is something for everyone in the basketball world to understand as the Olympics, perhaps the most competitive international tournament in history, are about to get started:
LeBron James is not messing around.
He may be 39 and named the country’s flag-bearer, but this is no ceremonial moment.
On Monday night, as he put on another display of dominance and will in front of the largest crowd to ever watch a basketball game in London, the fans, the opponents and even his peers on Team USA could only watch in awe.
With Germany, the current FIBA World Cup champion, trying to send a message by knocking off the Americans just days before the start of the Olympics, James grabbed control of the game in the same manner he has done since he was a teenager.
James scored eight vital points and wrapped them around steals, rebounds and general brute force to lead Team USA to a 92-88 victory. He finished with 20 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists, but the statistics are hardly representative of his impact.
As James went on a basket-steal-basket-rebound-free throws-rebound run during the middle of the fourth quarter, his teammates bounced around the bench arena like children at recess watching it all play out.
“We got a great group of guys and it doesn’t matter if it’s me, Joel [Embiid], Steph [Curry] or when [Kevin Durant] comes back,” James said. “Everybody going to have a moment and that’s what the team is all about. We all root for one another no matter how the game is going.”
And, by the way, James opened the game with two vicious dunks in the first three minutes.
After going 3-of-3 shooting in the fourth quarter against South Sudan on Saturday, including the game-winning basket with eight seconds remaining, James’ unrelenting final stretch Monday saw him go 4-of-4 as he scored the last 11 points for Team USA.
“Just putting the team on his shoulders,” Team USA guard Jrue Holiday said. “Being LeBron James.”
Team USA finishes the pre-Olympic tour with an imperfect 5-0. The squad has some issues to work on after two less than impressive showings in London.
Embiid was a bright spot, however, as he continues to round into form. He had 15 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists.
Embiid started slowly coming out of training camp, showing rust and looking out of shape after he took time off at the end of the season to let some injuries heal. But he has consistently improved and shown better rhythm and was needed Monday because Anthony Davis, his backup, got into foul trouble.
“People who watch me know that every season it takes me a couple of games to get going, and this is no different,” Embiid said. “That’s the reason we’ve got preseason games. I feel like myself and I’m going to keep going and I’m going to be playing at that MVP level I’ve played for the last five or six seasons.”
Curry had 13 points for Team USA but was just 1-of-7 on 3-pointers as the U.S. struggled from deep, shooting just 29%.
Germany has four current NBA players on its roster and is known for excellent team chemistry, which was on display in its run to the World Cup title last summer. Nearly everyone who steps on the floor for the team can shoot the 3. The Germans move the ball well, are very active with their hands on defense and have terrific size.
Most importantly in this game, they took care of the ball and were ultra-aggressive on the offensive glass.
Team USA had issues with allowing dribble penetration, which led to kick-out 3-pointers in the near disaster against South Sudan on Saturday. This was clearly a point of emphasis coming into Monday’s game, especially with Holiday and Anthony Edwards applying heavy ball pressure on Germany’s guards and generally better defensive focus on energy.
The Germans struggled at times to generate clean looks and attempted more end-of-shot-clock 3-pointers than triples out of their offense. It was exactly the type of defensive response the Team USA coaches were hoping for.
But there was still the problem of not ending the possessions, with the Germans getting 14 second chances and scoring 16 points off them.
That and a spate of turnovers, especially a stretch in the third quarter when the Americans’ offense was short-circuited by five giveaways in a four-minute span, and Germany was able to compensate for 36% shooting by getting 12 more shots.
“We can get a lot better,” Team USA coach Steve Kerr said. “We’re getting to a place now where we’re getting comfortable with rotations and I think guys are getting familiar with each other. … I think we can tighten up our game and get better. And that’s the plan here in the next couple of weeks.”
Orlando Magic forward Franz Wagner led Germany with 18 points. Dennis Schroder, who was MVP of the World Cup last summer, had 10 assists for the Germans but shot just 3-of-15.
“We played with good tempo and then, yeah,” Germany coach Gordon Herbert said, “somebody named LeBron James made some plays at the end.”