Villeneuve-d'Ascq (France), July 29 (IANS): Powerhouses USA defeated Serbia 110-84 in the opening game of Group C at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
After not being able to play in a single game during the exhibition matches due to a left calf injury, Kevin Durant reminded the world that he is one of the greatest shooters the game has ever seen.
The Phoenix Suns’ Forward scored 23 points on the night and went an impressive 8-9 in field goal attempts while maintaining a perfect record from outside the arch scoring 5-5 from three point range.
He also extended his record as the highest ever scorer for the national team with 435 points to his name and is hoping to become the first men’s basketball player to win four Olympics gold medals.
Alongside KD, Lebron James scored 21 points, provided nine assists while garnering seven rebounds on a night where he became the oldest player to play for the US Men’s basketball team.
The first half was evenly matched with a 58-49 point scoreline in favour of USA but the reigning champions pulled away in the third quarter and went on to make it a blow-out win.
Three time NBA MVP winner Nikola Jokic was the only bright spot for the Serbian team as ‘The Joker’ registered a score line of 20 pts, five rebounds and eight assists.
USA will next face South Sudan on Thursday (IST) in their second Group C encounter.