by The United States men’s basketball team opened their 2024 Paris Olympics campaign with a dominant 110-84 victory over Serbia on Sunday, July 28th. Team USA put on a great showing of basketball against Team Serbia in the first official game of the Olympics. Here’s a breakdown of the key aspects of the game:
The game started off at a back and forth pace and provided some early suspense. That was until Kevin Durant entered the game and turned everything around. Durant, who was coming off a calf strained, missing each exhibition. KD immediately went to work, draining his first 8 shots, going for 21 in the first half. He didn’t have much time to warm up and catch up to the pace at all. But, He’s shown that time and time again, that he can adjust to coming back from a worrisome injury. Kevin Durant led the scoring with 23 points, and two rebounds, going 8/9 from the field, shooting an astonishing true shooting percentage at 116%.
Game Flow:
- Serbia started strong, taking an early 10-2 lead
- Team USA called a timeout at 2:41 into the game
- The U.S. adjusted, taking a 25-20 lead by the end of the first quarter
- By halftime, the Americans had extended their lead to 58-49
- The third quarter ended with the U.S. up 84-65
- The final score was 110-84 in favor of Team USA
Lebron James, returning to Olympic basketball after a 12-year absence, contributed 21 points, 9 assists, and 7 rebounds. He was pivotal to Team USA running the score up in the 2nd half. His playmaking opened the door for them to run away with the game. With Durant shooting 8-of-9 and James 9-of-13 from the field, the duo’s efficiency was remarkable.
Team Effort
While Durant and James were the standouts, several other players made significant contributions:
- Jrue Holiday scored 15 points
- Devin Booker added 12 points
- Anthony Edwards and Stephen Curry each contributed 11 points in their official Olympic debuts
Serbia’s Performance
Despite the loss, Serbia showed moments of competitiveness, especially in the beginning.
- Three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic led Serbia with 20 points
- Bogdan Bogdanovic added 14 points to Serbia’s tally
Looking Ahead:
The U.S. will face South Sudan, a rematch of a close exhibition game earlier this month. This game is important in the case of asserting their dominance. The last game between these two teams was a barn burner and South Sudan almost upset Team USA. In order for Team USA to win this one convincingly, they’ll have to come out guns blazing from the start on defense to be specific. They gave up a ton of open threes in the exhibition, and as we saw; South Sudan will take full advantage of that.
Conclusion:
It’s worth noting that this game, like all group phase matches. The tournament follows a group phase structure, with 12 teams divided into three groups of four. The top two teams from each group, along with the two best third-place teams, will advance to the quarterfinals. This convincing win sets a strong tone for Team USA as they pursue their fifth consecutive Olympic gold medal in men’s basketball.
