Olympic champion USA kicks off its title defense with convincing victory after beating Serbia 110-84 ( 25:20, 33:29, 26:16, 23:19) in a match from group "C" in the men's basketball tournament at the Paris Games. The teams of South Sudan and Puerto Rico are also in this group, BTA reported.
The Americans, fourth since the last World Championship, are chasing a fifth consecutive Olympic title and did not have much difficulty against the 2023 world runner-up.
The game was marked by the return of Kevin Durant to the game for the USA and his great performance in the first half.
The Serbs started the match at “Stade Pierre Moreau“ in Lille and took an early 10-2 lead, but the Americans rallied to take a 13-12 lead midway through the first quarter. With Durant entering the game, the USA basketball players seized the initiative, increased their lead to 11 points and held the lead until the end of the first half, which ended at 58:49 in their favor.
Kevin Durant, whose participation was only confirmed in the hours before the game, was nursing a calf strain in preparation for the Olympics and missed all of the USA's screenings. The 35-year-old basketball player, leading scorer for his country at the Olympics, will try to become the first four-time Olympic gold medalist. He was part of the USA squad that won the Games in London 2012, Rio de Janeiro 2016 and Tokyo 2020, which were held three years ago.
Durant came on brilliantly and in 8:39 seconds of playing time in the first half scored 21 points, including five 3-pointers from five attempts and was 100 percent shooting. Nikola Jokic was the most productive for the Serbian team in the first 20 minutes, accumulating 12 points, 2 rebounds and 4 assists.
After the break, the Americans continued to control the events on the field and in the middle of the third quarter the difference reached 14 points at 73:59, and before the final 10 minutes the score was 84:65.
Kevin Durant finished as the top scorer for Team USA with 23 points and 2 rebounds, while LeBron James contributed 21 points, 7 rebounds and 9 assists. Jrue Holiday scored 15 points and 4 rebounds, and Devin Buckour added 12 points.
Steph Curry had 11 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists and, at 36 years and 136 days, became the oldest American basketball player to debut in an Olympic Games, displacing Larry Bird.
For Serbia, center Nikola Jokic scored the most with 20 points, 5 rebounds and 8 assists. Bogdan Bogdanovich scored 14 points and 6 rebounds, and Ognen Dobrich chipped in with 13 points.
The Americans will face South Sudan in their next game on Wednesday, while Serbia will play Puerto Rico.