Carmelo Anthony, the only U.S. player with Olympic experience other than Durant, became the most successful Olympic basketballer with a third personal gold. It was a 23-point game at the half and the United States led by as many as 41 in the fourth.
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“It was therapy for me after making a big change in my life”, Durant told The Vertical on Sunday evening.
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. Moreover, Anthony became the first player to play in four separate Olympics for Team USA and he became the first basketball player to win three gold medals.
Krzyzewski, the Duke legend who was hired by program head Jerry Colangelo in 2005, is now officially retired from the national team and will make way for the San Antonio Spurs’ Gregg Popovich in 2020.
Anthony announced his retirement from global competition after the game.
So the USA men’s basketball team won another gold medal at the Olympics.
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 U.S. as in the 2014 World Cup final which ended 129-92.
A two-week stay in Team USA’s luxury cruise ship in Rio helped settle things down.
In winning the last gold medal of the Games, Team USA finalizes its dominance of the Rio Olympics, sitting atop the medal table with 46 gold medals and 121 overall, more than fifty more than the next closest country, China, who earned seventy medals. Deandre Jordan (USA) of the USA and Demarcus Cousins (USA) of the USA celebrate.
The 27-year-old superstar entered the 2016 Summer Olympics having to defend himself after leaving the Oklahoma City Thunder to sign with the Golden State Warriors this offseason. We corrected our mistakes and came together as a team.
The Americans had a rocky start to the game in the first quarter when Serbia mucked up the proceedings by fouling the U.S.in transition and keeping the USA from developing an offensive rhythm.
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The game got off to a nervous start as it took nearly a minute before Milan Macvan opened the scoring with a three-pointer for the Serbs. And why not, he’s on a successful team, surrounded by talented players, something that he cannot say when he goes back to Sacramento next season.
