USA Basketball collected their first victory of the 2024 Summer Olympics on Sunday by defeating Nikola Jokic and Serbia handily with a 110-84 final score. Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James was the catalyst with 21 points, seven rebounds and nine assists on 9-for-13 from the field. Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant, though, was the standout with 23 points — 21 in the first half — on 8-for-9 shooting.
James and Durant are the oldest and third-oldest players on the Team USA roster, respectively. But that didn’t seem to matter on Sunday, as they both got whatever they wanted against Serbia despite their active hands on defense. James has been the team’s best player in every single game thus far, but Durant’s performance came after an injury held him out of exhibition play.
The Lakers superstar spoke about what it’s like playing alongside Durant and how the two work well together to help the nation secure important international wins, James said in an interview with NBC:
“I just think we bring out the best in one another. We’re very seasoned to the FIBA game, we’ve played a lot of international basketball when it comes to the Olympics or World Championships. So to have KD on our side, to have KD on my side, is a treat for sure.”
James credited the way Durant prepares for games as the reason he was able to so seamlessly be impactful despite missing exhibition games:
“Everything that he does in practice is game speed, so when it translates over here it’s no surprise.”
Of course, things weren’t perfect for Team USA despite what the final score might suggest. They got off to a slow start and lost the turnover battle 17-13. The latter was the focus for James:
“We got to get better with our turnovers. Obviously we’re trying to make the right play so you can never exclude that, but some of the careless turnovers that we had that we can give ourselves even more possessions offensively. We’ll be better coming up on Wednesday.”
USA Basketball walks away from Sunday’s opener with very little to be upset about. They won by 26 against what is considered their hardest competition in group play and have only turnovers as a major focus.
But Durant and James’ synergy made the turnovers a non-issue, and if the two can continue to play at that level alongside one another, USA Basketball should have no issues climbing their way to the gold in Paris.
LeBron James describes special feeling of playing in Olympics
The 2024 Olympics represents LeBron James’ fourth appearance on the international stage and a chance at his third gold medal. James is not taking it for granted, as he knows how special an opportunity it is to represent his country on the biggest of stages.
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