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Kevin Durant scored 23 points in his first game for the US this summer.Photograph: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
LeBron James made his Olympic return after a 12-year absence. Kevin Durant played for the first time this summer. And the two most-experienced Olympians on this US team opened the Paris Games with a near-perfect showing as the US rolled to a 110-84 win over Serbia on Sunday.
Durant came off the bench to hit his first eight shots on the way to 23 points in fewer than 17 minutes, with James adding 21 points, nine assists and seven rebounds. They were a combined 18 for 22 from the field – 8 of 9 for Durant, 9 of 13 for James – as the US had no trouble with the reigning World Cup silver medalists. Jrue Holiday scored 15, Devin Booker had 12 and Anthony Edwards and Stephen Curry each added 11 for the US.
“That’s the best game we’ve played so far,” James said after the Americans improved to 6-0 this summer, 1-0 in the tournament that matters.
Related: Is US men’s basketball’s era of Olympic domination coming to an end?
Durant missed the bulk of Team USA’s pre-Olympic prep as he nursed a calf injury, with Sunday marking the first time he has stepped foot on the court this summer. And he was the fifth sub off the US bench, essentially the 10th man, in what was only the fourth time in his last 1,320 games that he did not start.
But once on the court, Durant was his typical self, raining shots from all angles.
Durant was the star on the court, but Joel Embiid felt the heat of French fans whether he stepped on the floor or not.
The Sixers center chose to play for the US over France at the Paris Games – and the home crowd did not let him forget it. Embiid was met with boos throughout the opening game, be it during pregame introductions, coming off the bench, or touching the ball.
There was some hope from French fans that Embiid would team up with fellow NBA stars Victor Wembanyama and Rudy Gobert to play for the host country. The Sixers center was naturalized citizenship status in 2022 even though he’s never lived in France. He also had the option of playing for Cameroon, but turned down that…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/kevin-durant-fires-team-usa-175544976.html
Author : The Guardian
Publish date : 2024-07-28 17:55:44
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