DeMarcus Cousins scored 17 points and Paul George added 15 for the U.S. Former NBA player Yi Jianlian led China with 25 points.
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Despite the fact that mainstays such as LeBron James and Chris Paul passed on the Olympics this time, coach Mike Krzyzewski said this squad has bonded as much as any of the three US teams he has led to the Olympics. He’ll become the first three-time men’s basketball gold medalist if the U.S. win gold at the end of this tournament.
“I thought China played really hard, they have a lot of young players and they are getting better and we were good”, said USA coach Mike Krzyzewski.
The Serbians won a silver medal two years ago in the Basketball World Cup, but didn’t qualify for the Olympics until winning a qualifying tournament it hosted last month.
Tougher competition might come later, but it should be an easy start for the Americans. During their fourth exhibition of their exhibition tour prior to heading to Rio, the Americans were still dominant in their showdown with Venezuela, but they also played their ugliest game of the five-contest set.
The new-look Americans started Durant, Carmelo Anthony, Cousins, Kyrie Irving and Klay Thompson.
The Americans had 31 assists on their 38 baskets. The Americans had five players to come up with 2 steals each.
Andrew Bogut wanted one more shot to represent Australia at the Olympics and wasn’t going to let an injury take that away again. But the guard who helped spark Cleveland over Golden State in June’s NBA Finals made up for his slow start once he got going, hitting four in five USA possessions to boost the American lead to 87-43.
The new Dallas Maverick looked fully recovered, scoring 18 points on 9 for 10 shooting in Australia’s 87-66 win over France on Saturday.
Patty Mills top scored for the Boomers with 21 points, while Matthew Dellavedova chipped in with 10 assists. He may end up being their most valuable player this summer.
“When he accepted [an invitation to play for the Olympic team], I called him and said, ‘Do you remember [our conversation]?'” There was extra motivation after missing the 2012 London Games with an ankle injury.
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The first day of action concluded with Serbia making quick work of Venezuela in an 86-62 win.
