The U.S. men’s basketball team might have won gold in this summer’s Olympics if Kevin Durant wasn’t on the roster. But one big takeaway from the team’s exhibitions in the lead up to the Paris Games was that it wouldn’t be easy.
Without the nation’s all-time leading Olympic scorer, the U.S. went 5-0 but played three games within surprisingly small margins, including a narrow one-point win over South Sudan.
In Durant’s return from a calf injury Sunday for their Olympic opener against a Nikola Jokic-led Serbian team, the U.S. cruised to a 110-84 victory. And Durant was the catalyst off the bench, scoring a game-high 23 points on a near-perfect 8-of-9 shooting performance.
For a half, he was perfect, hitting his first eight shots including five three-pointers for 21 points in fewer than nine minutes on the floor. Some players get rusty, Durant just gets buckets.
Easy Money.
21 pts, 8/8 fg, 5/5 3pt at the half.
#USABMNT #Paris2024 #Basketball pic.twitter.com/KJMUdQaLy4
— USA Basketball (@usabasketball) July 28, 2024
ZERO missed shots for Kevin Durant in the first half.
Easy money. #ParisOlympics
NBC and Peacock pic.twitter.com/nOa595PqAV
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) July 28, 2024
Team USA was already a -550 favorite at BetMGM to win gold before anyone knew how much Durant would have to offer coming off injury. His performance will only reinforce their status as favorite. The win over Serbia, whom the U.S. also beat by 26 in exhibitions, brings the team a step closer to securing Group C, which also includes Puerto Rico and South Sudan. They play the latter next on Wednesday.
Durant wasn’t the only American player with a big game against Serbia. LeBron James added 21 points on 9-of-13 shooting, seven rebounds and nine assists, and six players scored in double figures as the team shot 62% from the field overall.
