Turns out he was just clearing his throat.
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They dropped three games in the group stage but had the look of a team that could challenge the Americans after almost knocking them off earlier in the tournament and overwhelming Australia in the semifinals.
A ruthless United States of America served up an exhilarating display as they swept aside Serbia 96-66 to claim a third straight Olympic men’s basketball title and give their coach Mike Krzyzewski a golden send-off on the final day of action at Rio 2016.
“It was therapy for me after making a big change in my life”, Durant told Michael Lee of The Vertical.
They were down just 16-15 before Durant made a 3-pointer for the final points of the first quarter, and before then knew it he had turned the game into a blowout.
“We played a great game today”.
Serbia were guilty of missing too many shots and the USA capitalised, with Durant racking up 24 points as they went in at the halfway point with a 52-29 lead.
“We did a good job of bottling all that up and unleashed it on Serbia”, George said. Throw in two-time gold medalists Maya Moore, Tina Charles and Angel McCoughtry – who should all be back in 2020 – and there is another strong nucleus to build on for the Tokyo Games.
Spain, which lost to the United States team in the past two Olympic finals, edged Australia 89-88 in the bronze medal game.
Krzyzewski is the first head coach to lead the U.S.to three consecutive Olympic gold medals in men’s basketball, having also guided Team USA to the top of podium in 2008 and 2012.
Krzyzewski, 69, will hand the reins to San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich as he leaves Team USA after almost 11 years and with a 24-0 record in the Olympics. “That says a lot for the program that’s been developed”, Krzyzewski said. “It’s been a joy”.
Carmelo Anthony picked up his third gold medal in his fourth Olympics and said this would be his last Games.
This team also had a pair of three-point victories over France and Serbia in pool play and were far from the dominant team that appeared in the gold medal game during most of the tournament.
Team USA’s demolition of Serbia was the largest margin in an Olympic men’s basketball game since the Dream Team clobbered Crotia in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics with a 117-85 beating.
I’ve seen the worst, and I’ve seen the best. And middleweight Claressa Shields became the first American boxer of either gender to win two Olympic boxing gold medals. I wouldn’t trade that in for anything in the world.
Serbia finishes with a silver medal, its second in the nation’s history and the first since 1996.
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“It wasn’t as easy as we would’ve liked it, but this journey we had here in Rio, you can’t ask for nothing more than that”.
