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LILLE, France – The Slim Reaper is back. Kevin Durant, already the United States’ career Olympic scoring leader, joined his international legend on Sunday night. Durant scored 21 first-half points to help the United States shut down a frenzied Serbia attack and claim a 110-84 victory in its first game of the 2024 Olympics.
Durant sat out Team USA’s entire Olympic showing, and now it doesn’t seem like a coincidence that they struggled mightily in those five games. His appearance late in the first quarter was timely, helping settle a U.S. team that initially struggled to contain the Serbian offense led by three-time defending NBA MVP Nikola Jokić.
For a team full of MVPs and NBA champions, the United States looked terribly shaky early in the first quarter of its first Olympic game. Coach Steve Kerr rolled out a starting lineup of LeBron James, Steph Curry, Devin Booker, Joel Embiid and Jrue Holiday, and that esteemed team almost immediately got into trouble.
Curry, making his Olympic debut, received the honor of leading the Americans onto the court to warm up. But his first stint as an Olympian ended at the hands of Serbian Aleksa Abramovic, who did the opposite and won the first points of the game.
Embiid appeared out of step for most of the game, missing free throws, committing cheap fouls and being intimidated on blocks. Maybe it was nerves, or maybe it was the relentless cascade of boos and whistles that accompanied his every shot, touch or appearance on the overhead screens. It appears that French basketball fans are not yet ready to forgive Embiid for the crime of choosing to play for America over France.
Kerr had said before the game that he wanted the United States to play a faster offense to protect itself against camped international teams. It was a good idea, except that Serbia decided to play an even faster brand of basketball, which confused the USA with poor passing and cheap turnovers throughout the first half.
LeBron James, fresh from leading the United States up the Seine, scored America’s first points on a breakaway dunk. But the real hero of the first half was Durant, who checked in with 2:33 remaining and proceeded to drain his first three-point shot just 14 seconds later.
Durant’s first run lasted just over six minutes total in the first and second quarters, but he scored the 14 points needed to change the momentum — twice as many as any other player on either team when he left the court. He ended the first half with five points in the final 36 seconds, including a fadeout over time that left him lying on his back, and the United States won 58-49.
The second half was sloppy – Embiid, James and Booker had Serbian defenders on their backs at one point or another – but also inevitable as the United States continued to increase its lead and contain the frenetic Serbian team.
The game’s defining moment came when James made a layup to give the U.S. a 14-point lead and ended up falling to the floor with Serbia’s Nicola Jovic on top of him. James simply knocked Jovic down, jumped to his feet and flexed in front of the Serbian bench, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer and Team USA leader, scoring the game.
Durant led all scorers with 23 points, and when he left the game with 5:33 remaining, he received a respectful hand from the crowd. James finished with 21 points, 9 assists and 8 rebounds in a dominant overall showing. Jokić led Serbia with 20 points and 8 assists.
Every player on the U.S. team except Tyrese Haliburton and Jayson Tatum earned minutes and points. Anthony Edwards, in particular, brought fire. He spent much of the game at war with a fan honking his horn behind the U.S. bench, looking back at the fan after draining a three-pointer, and later executed a nifty comeback that left the Serbian defense sunk.
The United States now faces South Sudan on Wednesday, a team that caused the Americans unexpected problems during the exhibition. But this time, the Americans should have KD in the lineup, and that alone could make all the difference.
