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Kevin Durant says Olympics were ‘therapy’ after free agency decision
Saving their best for last in a tournament that had been tough, the US convincingly won its third straight gold medal, beating Serbia 96-66 on Sunday.
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The Serbs, beaten just 94-91 in the group game, had hoped for a similarly close contest but were up to the task only in the first quarter as they lost nearly as heavily against the USA as in the 2014 World Cup final which ended 129-92. That question was answered forcefully on Sunday in the form of a convincing rout against Serbia. I’ve seen the losing side, and I’ve seen what it feels like to win three gold medals. They trailed for just over 11 minutes in the entire Olympics and the biggest deficit was just four points – 6-2 to France.
Which is why I’ve never been on board with sending National Basketball Association players to the Olympics.
Women’s basketball won gold as well when it beat Spain 101-72 on Saturday, bringing basketball’s medal count to two. Pundits all over the nation as well as fans who felt like he abandoned them relentlessly lobbed shots his way, including at least one popular local business owner.
Curry, LeBron James, Chris Paul, Anthony Davis, James Harden and Durant’s former teammate Russell Westbrook all declined invitations to play in the Olympics, but the US was still expected to easily win a third consecutive gold medal because it still had a four-time scoring champion and former MVP in Durant.
“This team kept getting better and even those three games in pool play, we had not played that type of game against that type of level of opponent”, Krzyzewski said. “And I think it will”.
Serbia, which lost by three points to the USA during the preliminary, wishes that Durant had stayed away.
When the US wants to prove a point and shut up its critics, no one can come close to even making a basketball game interesting against them.
“It was a special moment for me”, Anthony said of winning his third gold.
Kevin Durant (center) fi nished with 30 points in the United States’ 30-point victory over Serbia.
“Coach (Mike Krzyzewski) sat me down and showed me some film of 2010 and he said, “I want to see that guy again”, Durant said. He walks away with three gold medals.
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“To go home as gold medalists and leave Coach K off with another gold was one of our main goals as well”, Durant told reporters. “They let down our athletes”, he said.
It took them the whole tournament, but USA Basketball finally came together.
The final two quarters were a mere formality but amid “we want more” chants from the USA fans the points kept coming even though Krzyzewski brought out the reserves in the final quarter.
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With Anthony insisting he’s made his final appearance with Team USA, Sunday’s game took on a tenor of transition. “As much as I’m going to miss it, it’s time to pass it on to some of the guys who were here and some of the younger guys that are coming along, to give them an opportunity to be a part of something great”.