Anthony Davis blocks 6 shots, Bam Adebayo hits 3s in Team USA's win over Nikola Jokic, Serbia

Three exhibitions down, three wins on the books for Team USA in the lead-up to the 2024 Paris Olympics. This time around, a pair of former Wildcats made headlines.

On Wednesday in Abu Dhabi during a 105-79 win for the United States over Serbia — which features the NBA’s reigning MVP, Nikola Jokic — Bam Adebayo and Anthony Davis put together impressive performances.

For Adebayo, the Miami Heat big man recorded 17 points (6-9 FG), eight rebounds, and three assists in 18 minutes. Notably, he shot 3-5 from long range, taking advantage of the shorter three-point line used under FIBA rules. For reference, Adebayo is only 23-104 (22.1 percent) from deep throughout his seven-year NBA career, although the former ‘Cat did shoot 15-42 (35.7 percent) from distance in 2023-24 as he looks to expand his game.

“I made the first one, so I kept shooting,” Adebayo said, per USAB.

He sure looked like a Splash Brother against Serbia. LeBron James agrees, too.

“The new Splash Brother… Bam Bam Splash!” 😆

LBJ 🤝 Bam pic.twitter.com/Rp6hv6JGT2

— NBA (@NBA) July 17, 2024

Davis was equally impressive, albeit on the other end of the floor. In 16 minutes, the Los Angeles Lakers center recorded seven points (2-3 FG), six rebounds, and six blocks. Three of those blocks came within a minute of each other late in the second half — two against Jokic, who finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds.

Anthony Davis with THREE straight blocks! Two of them on Nikola Jokic!

START THIS MAN STEVE KERR! He is clearly the best defender and overall player on this team by a mile pic.twitter.com/GsXnyrhuzD

— LakeShow Highlights (@LSH_lakeshow) July 17, 2024

Davis and Adebayo shared the floor as part of Team USA’s second unit, and there might not be a better rim-protecting duo in the entire Olympics (well, outside of France’s Rudy Gobert and Victor Wembanyama, that is…) than those two elite-level defenders. It doesn’t matter how good you might be on offense, it’s going to be tough to score on a backline featuring Davis and Adebayo.

A third former Kentucky player also saw the floor against Serbia, although his showing wasn’t nearly as impactful on the box score. Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns chipped in three points (1-3 FG) and one assist in his nine minutes for Team USA. Head coach Steve Kerr had high praise for all three Wildcats afterward.

“Bam and AD together are really something,” Kerr said. “The switching, they can also protect the rim and be in a drop if we go to that coverage. Combined with the ball pressure Book was putting on their point guard, I thought it really set a tone for us.”

The Americans will play two more exhibitions in London before the Olympics officially begin later this month. Team USA will face Wenyen Gabriel‘s South Sudan squad on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. EST (FS1) before closing out the exhibitions against Germany on Monday at 3:00 p.m. EST (FS1).

After that, it’s off to France for group phase competition. Team USA will face this same Serbia team to officially open up the Olympics on Sunday, July 28 at 11:15 a.m. EST as the quest for a 17th gold medal begins.