“I’m here today three gold medals later”.
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A ruthless United Stated powered past Serbia in a 96-66 win in the gold medal match in the Olympic basketball competition to give US a third straight gold medal and to give coach Mike Krzyzewski a golden send off.
The US beat Serbia on the board by 54-33 and led as many as 41 points. Kevin Durant scored 30 points and helped the Americans jump out to a huge lead by halftime.
Durant started a 9-0 run which woke up the team and the U.S. led 52-29 by half-time as Durant raised his tally to 24 points thanks to five more three-pointers and two slam dunks. When I’m smiling and screaming and beating my chest and showing emotion, that’s when I’m lost in the game.
Carmelo Anthony, the only USA player with Olympic experience other than Durant, became the most successful Olympic basketballer with a third personal gold.
Since Colangelo took over Team USA in 2005, the Americans have won seven FIBA titles, including gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2012 London Olympics and the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup.
The players on the U.S. Olympic men’s basketball team never doubted they would be standing on the gold-medal platform, even after some close calls in Rio and criticisms they lacked the usual big names and bigger wins.
Over five Olympics as part of the US coaching staff, Coach K helped his country post a 40-0 record. Taurasi then hit consecutive 3-pointers – her first points of the game – as the Americans scored 10 straight.
Heading into Sunday’s gold medal game between the United States and Serbia, you could easily see a situation where the USA men’s basketball team would be going home without a gold medal for just the fourth time in tournament history.
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Gasol, who will spend this upcoming National Basketball Association season in San Antonio and hasn’t committed to playing at Tokyo in 2020, and his teammates celebrated by piling on top of each other near center court.
