The only US male player to be chosen for four Olympic teams, Anthony became the first to win three golds as the Americans saved their best for last and crushed Serbia 96-66 on Sunday. Though undefeated heading into the final, the USA men’s team flirted with disaster at several points in the tournament, including razor-thin three point victories over France and its gold medal opponent Serbia in Group play.
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Kevin Durant led the attack for the us, contributing 30 points including 24 in a brilliant opening half, while DeMarcus Cousins showed himself to be a master of the boards, pulling down 15 rebounds.
Anthony was choked up in his postgame interview, and said that this would be the end of his Olympic career, and a 30-point win in the gold medal game is the best way to go out.
A ruthless United States pounded Serbia 96-66 to claim a third straight Olympic men’s basketball title on Sunday to give coach Mike Krzyzewski a golden send-off.
While Coach K’s third gold might have been his most hard, it was by far his easiest Olympic final.
The Americans had a rocky start to the game in the first quarter when Serbia mucked up the proceedings by fouling the U.S.in transition and keeping the US from developing an offensive rhythm. DeMarcus Cousins dominated on the glass with 15 rebounds.
The Warriors’ trio of Durant, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green will now move on to their next goal of winning an National Basketball Association championship this season for the Warriors. Whalen finished the game with 17 points, tied for the team lead with Taurasi. “I’m here today three gold medals later”. Following a late three by Kevin Durant, USA held on to a 19-15 lead after a quarter. Nemanja Nedovic (14 points) and Milan Macvan (11 points) were the only players who scored in double figures, and the team shot 38.2 percent as a whole.
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 U.S. jersey.
Meanwhile, Kyrie Irving has become just the fourth player in basketball history to win an NBA championship and an Olympic gold-medal in the same year. Most (if not all) of its roster should return in 2020 and be a threat to medal again. I committed to something.
Anthony continued, “I just want to say thank you for allowing me to be one of the leaders – not just of our team but of our country”. Also, more and more guys are in the NBA, or have been in the NBA, so as far as competition with us, there is a familiarity of playing against NBA players because they are or have been (NBA players), so I think that’s made it much more competitive also.
Serbia’s Nikola Jokic admitted his team was nowhere near the U.S. in the final. “Someone said to me [after the game], one of the officials said to me, ‘You know next time you play, you ought to play with four.’ And I said, ‘No, maybe the other teams better get their act together and compete'”.
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“We came here and despite what people are saying about this group, being less talented and not blowing teams out, we did a good job of bottling all that up and unleashed it on Serbia”, forward Paul George said.
