MANILA, Philippines – USA lived up to its billing as the reigning Olympic basketball champion blasted Serbia, 110-84, in its Paris Games opener.
Kevin Durant led the Americans with 23 points on 8-of-9 shooting, while LeBron James finished with 21 points, 7 rebounds, and 9 assists.
Nikola Jokic paced Serbia with 20 points.
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Fourth quarter
- FINAL: USA kicks off its title-retention bid in the 2024 Paris Olympics with a 110-84 rout of Serbia
- USA 110-84: Steph Curry adds another one from long distance
- USA 107-84: LeBron James completes an and-one
- USA 104-84: Bogdan Bogdanovic nails the jumper
- USA 104-82: Vanja Marinkovic and Jrue Holiday exchange long bombs
- USA 101-79: Devin Booker swishes his fourth triple of the match
- USA 98-79: Jrue Holiday adds two more inside
- USA 96-79: Bogdan Bogdanovic and Devin Booker trade threes
- USA 93-76: Anthony Davis scores off a feed by Devin Booker
- USA 91-76: Vanja Marinkovic fires and hits from deep, but Serbia still down by 15
- USA 91-73: Steph Curry nails a teardrop
- USA 89-73: Jrue Holiday steps back for a corner trey
- USA 86-73: Nikola Jokic connects down low
- USA 86-71: Vasilije Micic hits the wide-open three
- USA 86-68: Nikola Jokic attacks and finishes
- USA 86-66: Nikola Milutinov goes 1/2 from the line
- USA 86-65: Bam Adebayo skies for a two-handed slam off an assist by Anthony Davis
Third quarter
- END OF 3Q: USA pulls away from Serbia with an 84-65 advantage
- USA 84-65: Anthony Edwards fakes and scores
- USA 82-65: Bam Adebayo pulls up for a short stab
- USA 80-65: Kevin Durant goes 2/2 from the line
- USA 78-65: Nikola Jovic drains two freebies
- USA 78-63: Derrick White pull-up jumper is good
- USA 76-63: Nikola Jokic posts up and scores over Anthony Davis
- USA 76-61: Anthony Davis completes the and-one
- USA 75-61: LeBron James lobs it to Anthony Davis for the tough basket, plus the foul
- USA 73-61: Ognjen Dobric splits his foul shots
- USA 73-60: Vasilije Micic hits his first free throw, but misses the second one
- USA 73-59: LeBron James takes it strong for a fastbreak finish
- USA 71-59: Nikola Jokic and Anthony Davis exchange layups
- USA 69-57: LeBron James lays it in transition
- USA 67-57: Jrue Holiday answers with an uncontested layup
- USA 65-57: Ognjen Dobric floats one in
- USA 65-55: Bogdan Bogdanovic gets the tough layup to fall
- USA 65-53: Joel Embiid absorbs the contact and connects on a short stab
- USA 63-53: Aleksa Avramovic hits two bonus free throws off an unsportsmanlike foul by Joel Embiid
- USA 63-51: Filip Petrusev nails the long two
- USA 63-49: Jrue Holiday joins USA’s three-ball party
- USA 60-49: LeBron James opens the half with an easy layup
Second quarter
- HALFTIME: Kevin Durant continues to torch Serbia as USA enters the break with a 58-49 edge
- USA 58-49: Kevin Durant beats the buzzer with a tough fall-away jumper
- USA 56-49: Kevin Durant with his fifth triple of the half
- USA 53-49: Anthony Edwards for three, Bodan Bogdanovic tips in the miss
- USA 50-47: Jrue Holiday converts on a layup in transition, Bogdan Bogdanovic answers with a three
- USA 48-44: Kevin Durant now 6/6 from the field as he sinks a jumper
- USA 46-44: Aleksa Avramovic and Ognjen Dobric with back-to-back layups to make it a two-point game
- USA 46-40: Ognjen Dobric completes the rare four-point play
- USA 46-39: Ognjen Dobric lights it up from long range, plus the foul
- USA 46-36: Steph Curry lets it fly from downtown
- USA 43-36: LeBron James makes the defense pay with a wide-open trey
- USA 40-36: 9 straight points by Nikola Jokic as he uncorks a three-pointer
- USA 40-33: Nikola Jokic counters with another three-point play
- USA 40-30: Jrue Holiday dishes it to LeBron James for the easy throwdown
- USA 38-30: Nikola Jokic with a much-needed and-one for Serbia
- USA 38-27: Joel Embiid gets the short jumper to go
- USA 36-27: Anthony Edwards splits his charities
- USA 35-27: Vasilije Micic goes perfect from the stripe
- USA 35-25: Vasilije Micic sinks a mid-range jumper off the timeout, Kevin Durant responds with his fourth trey
- USA 32-23: LeBron James forces his way inside for a layup
- USA 30-23: Kevin Durant still perfect from the field after swishing another three-pointer
- USA 27-23: Kevin Durant stops and pops for a mid-range jumper, Vasilije Micic answers with a three
First quarter
- END OF 1Q: USA overcomes a slow start for a 25-20 lead at the end of the first quarter
- USA 25-20: LeBron James lobs it up to Anthony Edwards for a two-handed slam
- USA 23-20: Kevin Durant nails his second triple of the game
- 20-20: Anthony Edwards ties it up with a long bomb
- SERBIA 20-17: Kevin Durant checks in and quickly buries a three for USA
- SERBIA 20-14: Nikola Jokic goes 1/2 from the line
- SERBIA 19-14: 7-0 run by Serbia after two straight layups by Bogdan Bogdanovic and Ognjen Dobric
- SERBIA 15-14: Nikola Jovic fires a corner trey off an assist by Nikola Jokic
- USA 14-12: LeBron James hits the bonus free throw
- USA 13-12: LeBron James gives USA the lead with a strong finish, plus the foul
- SERBIA 12-11: Two consecutive threes by Devin Booker
- SERBIA 12-8: Nikola Jokic and Devin Booker exchange hits
- SERBIA 10-5: Steph Curry drills his first triple in the Olympics
- SERBIA 10-2: Aleksa Avramovic and Ognjen Dobric with back-to-back hits as USA calls a timeout with 7:19 to play in the first quarter
- SERBIA 6-2: Filip Petrusev counters with an easy basket
- SERBIA 4-2: LeBron James puts USA on the board with a two-handed fastbreak jam
- SERBIA 4-0: Nikola Jokic feeds the cutting Aleksa Avramovic for another layup
- SERBIA 2-0: Aleksa Avramovic steals and scores to open the game
USA starting lineup
- F – LeBron James
- F – Devin Booker
- C – Joel Embiid
- G – Jrue Holiday
- G – Steph Curry
Serbia starting lineup
- F – Nikola Jokic
- F – Bogdan Bogdanovic
- C – Filip Petrusev
- G – Ognjen Dobric
- G – Aleksa Avramovic
Preview
The long wait is over.
After months of anticipation, Team USA finally takes center stage in the 2024 Paris Olympics as it opens its title-retention bid against Serbia on Sunday, July 28.
Coming from a disappointing fourth-place finish in the 2023 FIBA World Cup in Manila, the all-NBA USA squad revamped its roster and added superstars LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis, and Jayson Tatum back in the fold, as well as first-time Olympians Steph Curry and Joel Embiid, among others.
Suiting up for USA for the first time since the 2012 London Olympics, the 39-year-old James is expected to show the way for the Americans as they begin their quest for a fifth straight Olympic gold.
James – the NBA’s all-time scoring leader – wasted no time reminding everyone why he’s still the king as he propelled USA to back-to-back nail-biting victories versus South Sudan and Germany in their last two exhibition matches.
James dropped 25 points and delivered the game-winning basket in USA’s 101-100 come-from-behind escape of South Sudan last July 20, before firing 20 points, including 11 in the final quarter, in their 92-88 win over Germany last July 22.
With Durant’s status for USA’s opening game still uncertain due to a calf injury, count on Curry to form a deadly one-two punch with James and shoot the lights out from long distance in his first-ever appearance in the Olympic stage.
Meanwhile, all eyes will be on reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic as he tries to lead Serbia to an upset victory.
The Serbians recently fell to the Americans by 26 points, 105-79, in their exhibition match last July 17 in Abu Dhabi.
In that game, Jokic posted a double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds, but was held to a lowly 6-of-19 field goal clip by the swarming defense of USA big men Davis and Embiid.
Aside from Jokic, look for Atlanta Hawks guard Bogdan Bogdanovic to step up to the plate for the Serbians as they hope to get back at USA in a rematch of their 2016 Rio Olympics finals.
It was the sharpshooting Bogdanovic who towed Serbia to a silver-medal finish in the recent World Cup in Manila with 19.1 points per outing.
Game time is 11:15 pm, Manila time. – Rappler.com