Now there’s nothing left to do for Anthony, whose Olympic career began in disgrace and ends with him being the most decorated player to ever wear a United States of America jersey.
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He also indicated that this would be his final appearance for Team USA Basketball.
Earlier today, Spain edged Australia 89-88 in a thrilling bronze medal match that featured 14 lead changes in the last quarter.
Just as he did four years ago in the final at London 2012, National Basketball Association superstar Kevin Durant led the charge with a game-high 30 points as the Americans seized control in the second quarter to repeat their victory over the Serbs in the 2014 World Cup final and make it 51 wins on the bounce. With DeRozan’s medal, USC athletes earned a total of 21 medals in Rio, including nine gold medals.
The game was also the last for U.S. captain Carmelo Anthony, the only American basketball player to appear at four editions of the Games. Anthony stated after the game these Olympic games would be his last.
It took a few games and a couple of scares, but Team USA men finally got it together winning the gold medal on Sunday after defeating Serbia by a score of 96-66. Serbia outscored the Americans in the second half 50-44.
The United States got off to a sloppy start offensively. The Serbians did a tremendous job defensively, limiting the Americans to 19 points.
TEAM USA led 90-49 early in the final quarter and could easily have set a new record for the biggest win in a men’s Olympic basketball final.
At one point in the third quarter, they seemed destined to smash the all-time winning margin of 44 points set by the US way back in 1948.
He also holds the title as the leading scorer in U.S. Olympic men’s basketball history, says Yahoo Sports. Taurasi then hit consecutive 3-pointers – her first points of the game – as the Americans scored 10 straight.
Team USA, meanwhile, had found and engaged fifth gear. USA Basketball was down and deflated.
They were blown away though in the second quarter as the U.S. outscored them 33-14 to lead 52-29 at half-time.
That raised doubts about the ability of the newly assembled team to play as a unit and handle the perpetual motion of global play.
Serbia outscored the Americans 23-17 in the fourth quarter, but it was nowhere near enough to alter the final result.
Every player on the American roster scored a point, while 12 of the 13 Serbia players had a point.
That’s when Kevin Durant stepped forward and made the gold-medal match his own, reminding the world’s basketball fans that the USA has the best players in the world and that when “KD” gets on a roll, there’s no one on Earth capable of stopping him.
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He joins LeBron James, Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen as the only players to have achieved the rare feat.
