The United States and Kyrie Irving made easy work of China in their Olympic opener. This was the first step for Team USA towards winning that gold medal, and while they still have a long way to go, their path looks very promising.
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After defeating the Chinese Olympic team by 49 and 50 points in exhibition games, Team USA dominated the same team by 57 points – 119-62 – in the opening Olympic game Saturday before a sellout crowd at Barra Carloca Arena in Rio de Janeiro.
Durant previously played with the Oklahoma Thunders last season but he will be joining the Golden State Warriors in this year’s season.
But led by Jimmy Butler, Carmelo Anthony (10 points in the half), Kevin Durant and DeAndre Jordan.
“We just wanted to send a statement to the rest of the world”, Anthony said.
LeBron James and Chris Paul passed on searching for more gold with Durant and Anthony, and plenty more top players who would have been on this roster also declined.
Team USA is on an impressive 69-game win streak, improving to 81-1 under Duke head basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski.
“I thought China played really hard, they have a lot of young players and they are getting better and we were good”, said USA coach Mike Krzyzewski.
Kevin Durant gave United States of America the offensive boost they needed after a slow start, hitting 10 of his 14 field-goal attempts to finish with 25 points. “If we keep playing hard and keep sharing the ball, I think we’re going to get better”.
Team USA will play Venezuela on Monday. The aggressiveness picked up on both sides of the court for Team USA in the second but defensively they were studs and held Venezuela to just eight points in the quarter.
Anthony, who is likely to finish this event as the USA’s all-time leading Olympic scorer, had nine points and seven rebounds. The AP reported Anthony tied LeBron James, who chose to skip these Games, and David Robinson by playing in his 24th game in the Olympics.
The Americans beat the Chinese twice in exhibition play by scores of 106-57 and 107-57, and this one was even less competitive.
China features former National Basketball Association center Yi Jianlian and 2016 second-round draft picks Zhou Qi and Wang Zhelin. No other players were in double figures for the Asian champions.
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“I felt good, I kind of was surprised that I did”, Bogut said. They stood near the basket and grabbed errant shots, easily putting them back for layups.
