LeBron James and Kevin Durant quickly got into the rhythm of playing at the Olympics again, helping the U.S. men’s national basketball team make headway towards their goal of a fifth straight Olympic gold medal at these Summer Games, with a 110-84 victory over Serbia on Sunday.
James, a 20-time NBA All-Star and the NBA’s all-time scoring leader as of last year, hadn’t competed in the Olympics for 12 years but had secured three Olympic medals: two golds from 2012 and 2008 and a bronze from 2004.
As for Durant, the now four-time Olympian was making his summer debut but came with three gold medals under his belt. He is hoping to become the most decorated male basketball player, surpassing Carmelo Anthony, who has three gold medals and a bronze from Athens in 2004.
Durant missed all five exhibition games the U.S. played ahead of Paris due to a calf strain. However, as the highest-scoring player in men’s Olympic basketball history, Durant made his first eight shots on the way to 23 points in less than 17 minutes. James added 21 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists.
“Everybody played their role pretty well,” Durant said. “My role was to come in and provide spacing and shot-making for the team, and I’m glad I was able to knock them down.”
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LeBron James and Kevin Durant dominate in Game 1 of the #ParisOlympics. pic.twitter.com/Ud73qHxQW2
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U.S. coach Steve Kerr, who spent three seasons with Durant at the Golden State Warriors, brought Durant off the bench rather than using him in the starting lineup.
“More than any player I’ve ever been around, when he comes back from a long absence, you don’t notice it,” Kerr said.
The NBA superstars were a combined 18 for 22 from the field—8 of 9 for Durant, 9 of 13 for James—as the U.S. had no trouble with the reigning World Cup silver medalists from last summer in the Philippines. Jrue Holiday scored 15, Devin Booker had 12, and Anthony Edwards and Stephen Curry each added 11 for the U.S.
Three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic scored 20 points for Serbia, while Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 14.
“That’s the best game we’ve played so far,” James said after the Americans improved to 6-0 this summer, 1-0 in the tournament that matters.
Both teams return to action on Wednesday, with the U.S. taking on upstart South Sudan—a rematch of a 101-100 escape win for the Americans in an exhibition in London earlier this month—and Serbia meeting Puerto Rico in what could essentially be an elimination game for both teams.