A ruthless United Stated powered past Serbia in a 96-66 win in the gold medal match in the Olympic basketball competition to give U.S. a third straight gold medal and to give coach Mike Krzyzewski a golden send off.
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Former Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Kevin Durant, who had been inconsistent throughout the tournament, saved his best for last, leading all players with thirty points. I knew [a backlash] was coming.
Team USA basketball hasn’t lost a game since 2006. The thing is, when one of those players is feeling it as Durant was Sunday, even that brand of basketball looks effective.
Team USA claimed the final gold medal of the Olympics on Sunday, keeping them in the No. 1 spot with 46 gold medals, 37 silver and 38 bronze.
Powering the USA men’s basketball team to the gold medal in Rio was cathartic for Kevin Durant.
Heading into Sunday’s gold medal game between the United States and Serbia, you could easily see a situation where the US men’s basketball team would be going home without a gold medal for just the fourth time in tournament history.
Although it went unbeaten, the US was played a little too close for comfort in most of its Rio Games.
The US used a 24-7 run spanning the first and second quarters to turn a close game into a blowout.
“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. “Who knows? We’ll see”.
The first half ended with the Americans ahead 52-29 and playing like the confident, flamboyant side most expected to see once the roster was named. We corrected our mistakes and came together as a team.
Durant and Anthony hugged late in the fourth quarter with the result long decided, and after the final buzzer, the Americans were dancing at mid-court in celebration. Nemanja Nedovic had 14 points to pace Serbia.
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Women’s basketball won gold as well when it beat Spain 101-72 on Saturday, bringing basketball’s medal count to two.
