The USA Men’s National Team has opened Olympic play with a strong showing. The USA beat Serbia 110-84 to open pool play. Kevin Durant was cleared just an hour before the first Olympic contest started. Coming into today’s game he had been dealing with a slight calf injury and was held out of Exhibition play as a precaution. Durant wasted no time making his presence felt once he saw action off the bench. Durant scored 23 points on 8-for-9 shooting from the field. Durant also grabbed two rebounds and dished out two assists off the bench. Durant made a statement with his performance and spoke postgame about his comfort level being on the basketball court.
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“I’ve been playing ball my whole life, so I simplified it,” said Durant, who played his first 5-on-5 since April. “And when the ball touched my hand, it was be aggressive.”
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Team USA Head Coach Steve Kerr spoke postgame regarding Durant’s return from injury. He also spoke on Durant’s skill level postgame.
“When he comes back from a long absence, you don’t notice it. I mean, he is so skilled and he just looked like he was in midseason form after not playing in a real basketball game for a couple of months. Pretty incredible.”
LeBron James had a big game against Serbia as well. James scored 21 points on 9-for-13 shooting from the field. James grabbed seven rebounds, dished out nine assists, and recorded a steal. James set the tone from the start for his team. James and Durant will have to continue their strong play in order for Team USA to win gold in Paris.
Coach Steve Kerr spoke postgame about James’ performance postgame as well.
“LeBron puts his imprint on the game in so many different ways. It’s not just his skill and his strength and his size, but it’s his emotion, his confidence. Just the way he infuses our team with energy and confidence at 39 is just amazing.”
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More USA Contributions
- Devin Booker scored 12 points, grabbed two rebounds, dished out five assists, and recorded two steals.
- Jrue Holiday scored 15 points, grabbed four rebounds, dished out three assists, and recorded two steals.
- Stephen Curry scored 11 points, grabbed three rebounds, and dished out three asissts.
- Anthony Edwards scored 11 points, grabbed five rebounds, and recorded a steal.
Team USA faces South Sudan next on Wednesday, July 31st. Tip-off will be at 3 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.
