It will be Durant’s first game in the Oracle as a Warrior.
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With the way that Cousins has been contributing to Team USA, there is nothing bad to say about him.
“I think we are learning more about one another”, Krzyzewski said.
Durant, who along with fellow forward Carmelo Anthony are the only previous gold medalists in this year’s squad, started off hot with 14 points and four assists in the first half, making most of his perimeter shots.
“He won’t get booed on Tuesday”, Myers said dryly.
“We got better today”, said Krzyzewski, who is fashioning a team after some of the NBA’s biggest stars – including LeBron James and Stephen Curry – opted out of the Games.
The Clippers’ DeAndre Jordan chipped in a dozen points and blocked three shots-including a block on China’s first possession. Durant also led the way in this matchup against Manu Ginobili’s Team Argentina with 23 points, while Paul George added 18 points from off the bench.
Jordan introduced the U.S. to China by blocking center Wang Zhelin’s jumper and scoring an alley Oop from Kyle Lowry in the early minutes of the contest.
Kevin Durant, the erstwhile Oklahoma City Thunder star who rocked the National Basketball Association with his recent decision to depart for rivals Golden State via free agency, came off the bench to lead the US with 19 points.
After the drought, team US went on an offensive run that never allowed China to get control of the game. He had incidents of intentional physical contact before in his career, a couple of times against Clippers players too, but the Finals put it under a whole new light, giving him a much broader exposure. “Individually, everybody knows what we have around us”.
“We should have won, but the way we won was excellent”, said United States coach Mike Krzyzewski.
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The U.S. led 26-13 at the end of the first quarter, 55-29 at halftime and 78-38 after three quarters in the second of a series of five exhibition games in preparation for the Olympics. The Splash Brother managed USA’s offense the third quarter. China rallied back in the fourth quarter, scoring 19 points during that time period, but their late effort would not lead to their success.
