Kevin Durant celebrates a basket as in front of China’s Gen Li (12) and Warriors teammate Klay Thompson in the 119-62.
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DeMarcus Cousins scored 17 points and Paul George added 15 for the U.S. Former NBA player Yi Jianlian led China with 25 points.
Kevin Durant looks ready to lead a new group of Americans to the gold-medal podium.
DeMarcus Cousins added 17 points and Paul George 15 for the U.S., who are heavy favourites to win a third straight Olympic title.
Serbia 86, Venezuela 62: Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 19 points and Serbia got its first Olympic basketball victory as an independent nation. He will become the first three-time gold medalist on the men’s side if the US wins.
Anthony also played in his 24th Olympic game, tying the American record held by both LeBron and David Robinson. No other players were in double figures for the Asian champions.
The 57-point victory was the biggest in a win recorded by the United States of America in an opening game at the Olympics since the Dream Team beat Angola by 68 points in 1992.
China played the US NBA stars about level in the second quarter until Durant sank three consecutive 3-pointers on three consecutive US posssessions late in the second quarter. That stretched the American lead to 55-27 before Jordan’s slam dunk put the U.S. ahead 59-30 at the break.
While the star-studded roster found their rhythm to close out the game, the first few possessions were shaky for Team USA.
Every player on the USA roster got on the score sheet in the opener with four getting into double figures led by Kevin Durant with 25. As the level of play required to be successful in the National Basketball Association grows exponentially, the competition in leagues outside of the United States fails to keep up.
Carmelo Anthony says his USA men’s basketball teammates need to accept responsibility and move on after reports that three players visited a legal brothel in Rio de Janeiro. “We played bad, they played great, that’s it”, – Nic Batum on France’s blowout loss to Australia.
“What’s done is done”, Anthony, the elder statesman of the team, said of the matter.
Anthony was responding to questions about a TMZ report that several players thought they were walking into a spa on their day off Wednesday night, but wound up in a brothel.
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Coach Mike Krzyzewski did not address the situation during his postgame news conference.
