Jayson Tatum went from DNP to the starting five in Team USA’s second game at the 2024 Summer Olympics.

After choosing not to play Tatum in Sunday’s comfortable win over Serbia, head coach Steve Kerr inserted the Celtics star into his starting lineup Wednesday against South Sudan.

It was a quiet return to action for the All-NBA wing, however. Tatum finished with four points, five rebounds, two assists and one block in a 103-86 U.S. victory. He attempted just four shots and played the fewest minutes (17) of any starter. His two makes came on a third-quarter alley-oop from Stephen Curry and a driving layup in the final minutes.

Tatum led Boston in points, rebounds and assists during its recent NBA championship run, but he’s yet to deliver a memorable performance in his latest go-round with the national team. In five pre-Olympic warmup games, Tatum scored a total of 32 points, never cracking double figures.

The most impressive Celtic on the court at Bercy Arena was Derrick White, whose winning plays at both ends of the floor energized the U.S.

The final player added to the Olympic roster — and the only one without an All-Star appearance on his resume — White scored 10 points and grabbed three steals in 17 minutes off the bench, going 3-for-3 from 3-point range.

White and fellow Celtic Jrue Holiday both were part of Kerr’s first round of substitutions, and the standout guards made an immediate impact. Especially White, who played the final 3 1/2 minutes of the first quarter and recorded a block, a steal, a made three and a drawn foul during that span.

Team USA trailed early and led by two when White first checked in. They proceeded to outscore South Sudan by 11 to close out the quarter and stretched their lead to 19 at half.

After South Sudan scored 10 of the first 15 points after halftime, Kerr opted to play his full second unit (White, Holiday, Anthony Edwards, Kevin Durant and Bam Adebayo) for the final 6:42 of the third quarter. The underdog South Sudanese stayed competitive, but the U.S. maintained a double-digit advantage for the rest of the game. Adebayo scored a team-high 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting.

Kerr sent his starters back out to start the fourth, but with one notable change: Durant stayed in the game, and Tatum remained on the bench. The next substitution saw White and Holiday check in to join LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Devin Booker. Tatum did not reenter until the final two minutes.

White hit the floor and grabbed his lower back after a hard pick from behind from Bul Kuol midway through the third quarter, and Holiday came up limping after appearing to tweak his left ankle. Both stayed in the game, but their statuses will be worth monitoring. The defensive-minded Holiday finished with five points and two rebounds in 15 minutes.

Joel Embiid, who started against Serbia, was the only member of Team USA who did not see the floor Wednesday.

Earlier in the week, Kerr lamented how difficult lineup decisions are with such a loaded squad, saying it’s hard to play more than 10 players in a 40-minute FIBA game (eight minutes shorter than an NBA contest). He played 11 against South Sudan, with Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton making his Olympic debut after sitting out the opener.

The win clinched a spot in the Olympic quarterfinals for the Americans, who’ve won by 26 and 17 in Paris after surviving a few scares during their exhibition schedule — including a last-second one-point win over South Sudan. They’ll close out group play against Puerto Rico on Saturday before the knockout rounds begin on Tuesday.