Kevin Durant, LeBron James lead USA to dominant win over Serbia in Paris Olympics group opener

United States forward Kevin Durant (7) and guard Anthony Edwards (5) celebrate after a play in the third quarter against Serbia during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games. (John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports)

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LILLE, France — The Slim Reaper is back. Kevin Durant, already the United States’ career Olympic scoring leader, added to his international legend Sunday evening. Durant poured in 21 first-half points to help the United States shut down a frenetic Serbian offense and claim a 110-84 win in its first game of the 2024 Olympics.

Durant sat out Team USA’s entire Olympic exhibition run, and now it doesn’t look so much like a coincidence that they happened to struggle mightily over those five games. His appearance late in the first quarter was a timely one, helping settle a U.S. team that initially struggled to contain the whirling Serbian attack led by three-time and defending NBA MVP Nikola Jokić.

For a team full of its own MVPs and NBA champions, the United States looked awfully rattled early in the first quarter of its first Olympic game. Head coach Steve Kerr ran out a starting lineup of LeBron James, Steph Curry, Devin Booker, Joel Embiid and Jrue Holiday, and that esteemed crew almost immediately got itself into trouble.

Curry, debuting in the Olympics, received the honor of leading the Americans onto the court for warmups. But his first pass as an Olympian ended up in the hands of Serbia’s Aleksa Abramovic, who took it the other way for the first points of the game.

Embiid appeared out of step for most of the game, missing free throws, committing cheap fouls and getting bullied in the blocks. Perhaps it was nerves, or perhaps it was the unrelenting cascade of boos and whistles that accompanied his every shot, touch or appearance on overhead screens. French basketball fans, it seems, are not yet ready to forgive Embiid for the crime of choosing to play for America rather than France.

Kerr had said before the game that he wants the United States to play a more fast-paced offense, to guard against international teams camping out in the paint. It was a good…

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Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-07-28 17:12:09

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