Carmelo Anthony earned his third gold medal and fourth overall by leading a team stocked with National Basketball Association talent to a 96-66 win over Serbia.
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The U.S. team will now begin a period of transition, as three-time gold medalist Carmelo Anthony retires from global play and Mike Krzyzewski steps down as coach after 76 straight worldwide wins and an 88-1 record.
The ever-impressive Kevin Durant led the way with 30 points as Serbia’s solid start quickly petered out, with DeMarcus Cousins scoring 13 points and Klay Thompson netting 12.
Anthony on Sunday became the first man to collect three basketball golds, a week after he became the USA’s all-time Olympics scorer, surpassing NBA superstar LeBron James.
The U.S. beat Serbia by just 94-91 in pool play, holding on when Bogdan Bogdanovic missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer. “It’s not just how they play, but how they acted and how unselfish they were”, he said.
CLOSING CEREMONIES: Gymnast Simone Biles carries the USA flag Sunday night when the Rio Games officially end with a closing ceremony that starts at 8 p.m.
They were down just 16-15 before Durant made a 3-pointer for the final points of the first quarter, and before they knew it he had turned the game into a blowout.
After scrapping to a tense three point win over Serbia in the group round, the United States quickly removed any suspense from the rematch, surging to a 52-29 halftime lead then cruising to their 25th straight win on Olympic hardwood. The Americans averaged a 22.5-point winning margin in the tournament.
Krzyzewski, an assistant on that team at the Barcelona Games, has long insisted that worldwide basketball has gotten too strong for anyone to win that easily again.
“I committed to this in ’04 – I’ve seen the worst, and I’ve seen the best”, Anthony said, referring to the team’s disappointing bronze finish in Athens, before winning three consecutive golds in Beijing, London and Rio. Feyisa Lelisa of Ethiopia finished second for the silver, and American Galen Rupp took bronze in his second marathon and Olympic debut.
The perception at the start of each Olympic tournament is that everyone else is playing for silver and bronze, conceding gold to the Americans. Mossely won lightweight gold on her 24th birthday on Friday and was in the stands shouting encouragement for Yoka.
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A disputed call gave Sergio Rodriguez the chance to score two from the free-throw line with five seconds remaining, as Spain trailed by a point.
