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Brian Windhorst, ESPN Editor-in-Chief
LILLE, France — The U.S. team competed in its first Olympic match after two disappointing performances against South Sudan and Germany earlier this month. But they opened group play on Sunday with a Victory 110-84 on the reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic and Serbia on Sunday.
Kevin Durantthe most decorated player in the history of the national team, was cleared to return from a calf injury less than an hour before kick-off and came off the bench to be the match’s top scorer.
Here are the key takeaways from Team USA’s Olympic opener victory over Serbia on Sunday.
Kevin Durant returns from calf injury
Durant has taken two steps forward and one step back in his return from a calf injury. Durant said there were times in the process where he was frustrated by his slow return and times where he was nervous about not being able to return to play.
“I had some good days and then I had a little setback here and I was a little nervous,” Durant said. “But I’m glad the coaches stepped up and calmed me down a lot and made me understand what I was going through.”
Durant’s schedule has changed several times, and Team USA coach Steve Kerr has wavered in his level of optimism, reflecting what’s going on behind the scenes. Durant said he knew he’d be able to play after participating in a full practice Thursday and waking up Friday without pain. But Team USA considered it a game-time decision and didn’t allow him to return until about an hour before kickoff.
Durant played 17 minutes as a substitute and was the game’s top scorer with 23 points. He made 5 of 5 from 3-point range.
Will Durant remain the sixth man?
It’s hard to argue with the results. Durant made it clear after the game that he would do whatever Kerr wanted. Kerr said twice after the game that he didn’t know what he would do for Wednesday’s game against South Sudan.
“I told coach whatever he wants from me, I’m willing to do whatever it takes and adapt to whatever it takes,” Durant said. “It’s always been fun trying to figure out new roles and adapt to whatever it takes.”
Durant has played in over 1,200 regular season and playoff games in his career, including three as a starter. He has now played in 50 games for Team USA, coming off the bench once. He will most likely return to the starting lineup, potentially replacing Devin Booker.
Booker had a great performance on Sunday with 12 points and five assists, going 4 of 5 from 3-point range.
USA overcame nerves in first game
The U.S. players admitted they were nervous in the opening minutes of play in front of more than 27,000 fans at Stade Pierre Mauroy. It’s a massive venue — a retractable-dome soccer stadium with three tiers of seats — and there were thousands of Serbian fans who had traveled all the way from France. It showed, as the Americans came out a bit flat, losing 10-2 in the opening minutes.
“I was a little nervous. I had butterflies in my stomach and it was something different, even for me,” Lebron James “We were playing in front of a lot of people. It was a different atmosphere.”
Jokic scored 20 points for Serbia but couldn’t stop James and his teammates. James finished just behind Durant with 21 points.
“I think I was very nervous before the match,” Stephen Curry “It’s a really cool environment out there. Obviously it was sold out and the energy was awesome. To put that jersey on at that level, I’ve been looking forward to that for a really long time.”
Joel Embiid in difficulty, booed by the local public
After two solid exhibition games, Embiid struggled Sunday. Serbia attacked him in the pick-and-roll, and the U.S. got bogged down offensively at times with him in the game. He was the only player on the roster with a negative plus/minus of -8.
But don’t expect Kerr to replace him in the starting lineup. Team USA is committed to Embiid and wants to let him work through tough times. First, he made a huge commitment by choosing to play for the United States instead of France, which is what Team France is doing. The home fans made this known by booing him loudly on Sunday.
Second, the team believes his skills will be essential to continue facing big teams. His role wasn’t even that important in the first game: he played less than 12 minutes, scoring four points, two rebounds and a block.
It’s surprising that Jayson Tatum never played in this game. Let Kerr tell it in his own words:
“It’s really hard to play more than 10 players in a 40-minute game, and with Kevin coming back, I just went with the combinations that made the most sense to me. It seems crazy. I thought I was crazy when I looked at everything and determined that those were the lineups I wanted to get.”
“Jayson’s been a first-team All-NBA player three years in a row, he’s one of the best players in the world. So I went with the combinations that made sense to me and I talked to him, he’s an unbelievable professional, and tonight. That doesn’t mean it’s going to stay that way for the rest of the tournament, so he’s going to make his mark. … Jayson is the ultimate pro and the champion and he handled it well and he’ll be ready for the next one.”
Tatum didn’t play well during the five-game exhibition tour. He averaged just 6.4 points and 3.4 rebounds on 47 percent shooting. He missed all six of his three-pointers. He was designated the sixth man for Team USA, a role he played in Tokyo. But he didn’t make an impact in those games, and Kerr played Bam Adebayo as a backup power forward, the role Tatum would have slipped into.
