In the early morning of July 29, Beijing time, at the Pierre · Moruwa Stadium in Lille, the United States men's basketball team made its Paris Olympic debut, and they beat Serbia 110-84 under the leadership of three 35+ veterans of James, Curry and Durant, and made a good start.
Durant, who is about to turn 36, almost completed a perfect performance of 100% shooting, scoring a team-high 23 points on 8-of-9 shooting, including 5-of-5 from the outside line, 39-year-old James contributed 21 points, 7 rebounds United States and 9 assists, and the two oldest players scored more than 20 points Serbia.
In the five warm-up games before the Olympics, the performance of the United States team was average, and Durant never appeared, making many fans wonder if his body was in trouble and began to worry about the Olympic prospects of the United States team. In those five warm-up games, the most wins for the United States was against Serbia, with a score of 105-76, which coincidentally also won by 26 points. By the time it comes to the official Olympic group stage, the United States have built a huge psychological advantage, although Serbia has Jokic, the MVP star of last season's NBA regular season.
Durant's excellent and consistent performance off the bench reassured fans of their doubts. Not only is he the team's top scorer, but he also scored 21 points at halftime on all eight of his first eight shots, the first Olympic scoring total on Team United States, and he continues his record. James also played very well, showing toughness on both ends of the floor that people would not even think that this was a player who would turn 40 by the end of the year. Lao Zhan scored the second-highest 21 points in the game, and scored 7 rebounds and 9 assists, heading straight for a triple-double. Just a few days ago, there was suspected infighting in the United States team, and Embiid was ashamed to claim to the media that James was too old, and the implication was that he should be the most valued player, he should be the core of the team, and the performance of old James could shut Embiid up. As it turned out, James could be the flag bearer of the opening ceremony of the United States delegation and the boss of this team. Another veteran of "Janduku", the 36-year-old Curry, also scored double-doubles, scoring 11 points, in addition to Holiday scoring 15 points, while Embiid's statistic was 4 points and 2 rebounds.
Jokic had 20 points, five rebounds and eight assists, but he didn't look at his best, knowing that he couldn't beat the United States and might as well stay to deal with the other two opponents in the group stage. There are often shots of Jokic talking to United States players during games, and "Jokic" is familiar with the players on the opposite side, and everyone meets much more often in the NBA than he meets with his Serbia teammates.
The United States team did not disappoint the fans, apparently they had reservations about their strength in the warm-up game, and then they will fight for the title with all their might.
Text/Beiqing Sports Liu Ailin