Kevin Durant’s Staff USA return wasn’t simply spectacular.
It was rattling close to good.
Durant got here again from a leg harm with a dominant efficiency in Sunday’s Olympic opener, main Staff USA to a 110-84 Group C rout of Serbia and star Nikola Jokic in Villeneuve-D’ascq, France.
After a strained calf sidelined Durant for all 5 of Staff USA’s tuneup video games, he was cleared about an hour earlier than tipoff and appeared like a fine-tuned scoring machine.
He got here off the bench and poured in a game-high 23 factors on 8-for-9 taking pictures from the ground, together with 5-for-5 from behind the arc.
“It felt good to make some pictures. All people performed their function fairly properly tonight. My function was to come back in, present persistence and shot making for the crew, exit and knock ’em down,” Durant instructed reporters in France. “I instructed coach [Steve Kerr] no matter he wants from me, I’m prepared to do something and adapt to something. It’s at all times been enjoyable attempting to determine new roles and adapt to regardless of the recreation tells you.”
Make some pictures could be an understatement.
Durant — Staff USA’s all-time main Olympic scorer — hit each one he took till the sport’s late levels when he’d already put it out of attain.
In his first five-on-five motion since April, Durant made his first eight pictures.
He scored 21 factors in his first 9 minutes on the ground, coming in with Staff USA trailing and serving to LeBron James blow open the sport towards the harmful Serbs, who gained Olympic silver in 2016.
“That’s the perfect recreation we performed up to now,” James stated. “I assumed they examined us early. We type of [lost] our composure. The second group got here in and gave us an enormous elevate. KD was phenomenal. It was nearly like he by no means missed a beat or a observe or something.”
James completed with 21 factors, 9 assists and 7 rebounds.
2024 PARIS OLYMPICS
At 39 years, 6 months and 28 days, James grew to become the oldest U.S. man to play on the Olympic basketball crew. Steph Curry (36) and Durant (35) additionally each surpassed Larry Chicken’s mark set in 1992.
“[James] places concern in different groups and I feel that goes a great distance, the psyche of the sport,” Durant stated. “Working downhill, making the suitable performs on the offensive, defensive ends. He was simply insane [Sunday]. I’m glad he’s on our crew.”
Jrue Vacation had 15 factors, Devin Booker had a dozen factors and 5 assists, whereas Curry and Anthony Edwards added 11 every.
Joel Embiid had a quiet recreation, booed by the French followers for choosing Staff USA over the house facet for which he’d been eligible.
However the star middle did have to protect Jokic, the three-time NBA MVP. Jokic completed with 20 factors, eight assists and 5 boards.
Staff USA was down 10-2 out of the gate as Serbia hit 5 of its first six earlier than Kerr referred to as a timeout.
The People promptly reeled off 9 unanswered in response.
The U.S. was nonetheless trailing 20-14 when Durant checked in and altered the sport.
Durant sparked a 13-0 run that spanned the primary and second quarters to offer Staff USA a 27-20 lead that it by no means surrendered.
After Staff USA allowed an 8-0 spurt to see the lead reduce to 46-44, Durant answered, adopted by a steal and layup by Vacation.
Then Durant’s acrobatic fallaway floater capped the half, sending him into the locker room with 21 factors on 8-for-8 taking pictures.
Serbia opened the third on a 10-2 run, however Staff USA opened the lead from there, exhibiting rising cohesion as the sport drew on.
That bodes properly because the U.S. takes on South Sudan — which gave the U.S. a significant scare in exhibition motion earlier this month — on Wednesday, as does Durant’s kind.
“Perhaps greater than any participant I’ve been round, when he comes again from a protracted absence, you don’t discover it,” stated Kerr, who coached Durant with the Warriors. “He’s so expert. He appeared like he was in midseason kind after not taking part in in an actual basketball recreation for a few months. Fairly unbelievable.”
