Durant had 30 points for the game, 18 of those in the second quarter, when he made Carioca Arena I marvel at both his shooting and athleticism and turned an unwatchable game into can’t miss television before it eventually became a laugher. The U.S. especially cranked up their defense; opponents averaged 92 points against the U.S.in their last three pool play games, until the Americans clamped down defensively to allow just 73 points per game in medal play.
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Serbia appeared as if they would once again push the Americans when they led 14-11 with 3:14 remaining in the first quarter, but from there on U.S. took control to open up a comfortable lead. The two were the only players back from the 2012 squad, their 10 teammates all Olympic first-timers.
“We came here and despite what people are saying about this group, being less talented and not blowing teams out, we did a good job of bottling all that up and unleashed it on Serbia”, forward Paul George said.
Anthony established the mark for most career rebounds by a US player in the final game. Several players were in tears after Australia finished fourth for the fourth time. He now has 311 Olympics points and is No. 2 on USA Basketball’s all-time Olympic scoring list behind Carmelo Anthony (336 points).In Rio, Durant found a small amount of redemption after a taxing summer. “We’re here to do we’ve got to do and we came here to get it to go”, USA guard Paul George said.
“To be alongside Coach K, he sacrificed so much of his time, his family, coming from a collegiate level instilling his trust into NBA players and being the face of United States of America basketball”.
Serbia, which missed the 2008 and 2012 Games, never found their rhythm of typical teamwork as the game was more like an National Basketball Association one.
But all that was forgotten as the Mike Krzyzewski-coached team completed the USA medal tally in Rio, its 46th gold to comfortably top the table from Great Britain.
The win was the last with Mike Krzyzewski as head coach. “That says a lot for the program that’s been developed”, Krzyzewski said. “It’s been a joy”.
Team USA cruised to its third-straight gold medal with an easy 96-66 victory over Serbia in the gold medal game of the 2016 Rio Olympics.
“I’m all for raising the bar for global basketball”, Colangelo said.
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“I’d love to see that”.
