Puerto Rico says goodbye to the Olympic Games after losing 104-83 to the US

Lille. Already eliminated, Puerto Rico said goodbye to the men’s Olympic basketball tournament against the United States with a 104-83 defeat this Saturday in Lille, in a duel in which it was winning by one point after 14 minutes, at which point LeBron James decided to cut to the chase and wake up his team.

The self-proclaimed Avengerslooking to redeem themselves from fourth place at the last World Cup, closed the first phase in Lille with three convincing wins and a ticket to play the quarter-finals next Tuesday in Paris as group winners.

Give it your all on the court, increase your shooting percentage and pray that your opponent has a bad day. Puerto Rico did its job for a while and fought hard against the United States.

Transparent in the tough punishment (107-66) against Serbia after twisting an ankle in his excellent start against Sudan (26 points in the 90-79 defeat), José Alvarado, the only NBA player for Puerto Ricans, recovered his color against his usual rivals.

He Great Thief13 points in the first half -18 in total-, gave wings to his team to endure the body to body fight for 14 minutes, when Puerto Rico won by one point (35-34).

LeBron decided that was enough, shaking up his men to avoid any confusion. With the almost forty-something “king” – 10 points, 6 rebounds and 8 assists – in charge of operations, the United States practically doubled their score in six minutes to go into the break with a balsamic 64-45.

LeBron was accompanied by a Joel Embiid (15) out of the rotation in the previous game and who did not lose face in his duel with the crowd for not wanting to play with France: Boos and celebrations when he failed, hands to his ears and gestures from the player in response when he scored.

A spectacular Anthony Edwards from the bench (26) and legends Stephen Curry (8) and Kevin Durant (11) completed the last show American in Lille.

The Puerto Ricans were left without a new miracle 20 years after the historic triumph in Athens 2004, the first defeat of an NBA team in the Olympic Games.

At least the successors of the Magnificent Twelve offered some resistance to the NBA empire, which is three games away from a fourth consecutive Olympic gold.