VILLENEUVE-d’ASCQ, France — Kevin Durant performed above even his high Olympic standards and lifted Team USA to victory over Serbia during the first match of the Paris Games for both teams.
Durant scored 21 points, all in the first half, and made his first eight shots in the Americans’ 110-84 victory Sunday before a sold-out crowd at Stade Pierre Mauroy, a soccer stadium just outside Lille, France.
What Durant did against Serbia was mind-blowing, considering he didn’t play at all for the Americans this summer because of a strained left calf. He’s already the all-time leading scorer for Team USA and is trying to become the first male player to win four Olympic gold medals.
The last time Durant, 35, played for Team USA, he scored 29 points in the gold medal game against France three years ago in Tokyo. On Sunday, he came off coach Steve Kerr’s bench with 2:23 left in the first quarter and started firing. He went 8 of 8 with five 3-pointers in the first half, when the game was tight and the Serbians were even ahead. He played 17 minutes and left the court to a standing ovation.
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Kevin Durant shines in return as Team USA crushes Serbia in Olympic opener
