What we learned as KD drops 23 in Team USA’s Olympics win vs. Serbia

What we learned as KD drops 23 in Team USA’s Olympics win vs. Serbia originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

BOX SCORE

Kevin Durant’s vintage performance lifted Team USA to a dominant 110-84 win over Serbia on Sunday in Lille, France, to begin Group C play at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics.

Playing in his fourth Olympics but returning from injury, Durant came off the bench at Pierre Mauroy Stadium and torched Serbia’s defense for 23 points in under 17 minutes. Team USA started slow and sloppy, falling behind 10-2 in a hurry, but everything changed once Anthony Davis replaced Joel Embiid — and especially once Durant first entered the game.

LeBron James scored 21 points and fell just short of a triple-double. Steph Curry’s 3-pointer in the final seconds gave him 11 points, making it six Team USA players to score in double figures. Their bench outscored Serbia 47-23, which will be Team USA’s biggest advantage in the Olympics.

Team USA also outscored Serbia 52-35 in the second half.

Denver Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic scored 20 points and also had eight assists, five rebounds and four steals for Serbia.

The only two players stuck to Team USA’s bench were Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton.

Here are three takeaways from Team USA’s 26-point win over Serbia.

KD’s return

Coach Steve Kerr called for Durant to come off the bench at the 2:33 mark in the first quarter as Team USA trailed 19-14. They then led 25-20 going into the second quarter. When Durant went back to the bench with 6:40 remaining in the first half, Team USA’s lead had grown to 35-25, all thanks to the man himself.

Durant didn’t play in any of Team USA’s five exhibition games while nursing a calf issue, yet the 35-year-old immediately looked like someone in the midst of an MVP campaign the moment he entered the game. His first half was perfect, as he scored 21 points on 8-of-8 shooting, including 5 of 5 from 3-point range, and was a plus-17 — all in just eight minutes and 39 seconds.

Perfect isn’t the appropriate word to describe Durant’s performance. One that extends to a new realm was needed.

Durant took only one shot in the second…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/learned-kd-drops-23-team-172557648.html

Author : NBC Sports BayArea

Publish date : 2024-07-28 17:25:57

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