Team USA throttles Nikola Jokic, Serbia in Olympic men’s basketball

Kevin Durant led the Americans to their first win of the 2024 Paris Games

Jul 28, 2024; Villeneuve-d'Ascq, France; United States guard Kevin Durant (7) after a game against Serbia during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at Stade Pierre-Mauroy. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports / John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

It wasn’t clear how Steve Kerr would incorporate Kevin Durant into Team USA’s rotation after the NBA superstar didn’t play in any of the team’s exhibition games leading up to the Paris Games.

Safe to say Durant, the United States’ all-time leading scorer in the Olympics, won’t have any rust to shake off in group play. The future hall-of-famer proved he’s still one of the greatest players in the world against Nikola Jokic and Serbia on Sunday, as he made five 3-pointers, shot 8-of-9 overall from the field and finished with 23 points off the bench in a dominant 110-84 win for the U.S.

The Serbs came out of the gate swinging, as they jumped in front with a 10-2 lead early and maintained control for much of the first quarter against the Americans’ starting lineup. Bam Adebayo and Anthony Edwards provided a spark off the bench, but Team USA’s offense didn’t fully take off until Durant subbed in at the 2:33 mark.

The 6-foot-11 forward knocked down a pair of 3-pointers during a 9-0 scoring run that put the U.S. out in front for good, as Durant made all eight of his field goal attempts in the first half — something he’s never done in his illustrious 17-year NBA career — including a fallaway midrange jumper just as the first-half buzzer sounded to put the U.S. in front 58-49 at the break. Serbia had pulled within four points earlier in the second quarter after former Gonzaga standout Filip Petrusev found Jokic for a 3-pointer from the wing, followed by an 8-0 scoring run that made it 46-44 with just over two minutes left in the half. 

Durant took over from there, as he scored five points in the final 36 seconds of the half — a pull-up 3-pointer over Petrusev in transition, followed by his buzzer-beater to end the half, had the U.S. ahead comfortably going into the locker room.

Team USA knocked down 12 3-pointers in the first half while the Serbs leaned heavily on Jokic in the interior. Serbia shot 12-of-17 and outscored the Americans 24-16 in the paint. An impressive stat line against a frontcourt featuring Joel Embiid, Davis and Adebayo, but a few adjustments in the second half limited how effective the Serbs were inside the arc for the rest of the game.

Jokic was bottled up early, as the U.S. forced three turnovers from the three-time MVP in the opening minutes, including one that led to a fastbreak from LeBron James. The NBA’s all-time leading scorer had a few breakaway opportunities off Serbia miscues, one of which led to a coast-to-coast layup that saw James work around a pair of Serbian defenders before crashing to the floor, only to shake off the hit with a flex.

James had 21 points, seven rebounds and nine assists while shooting 9-of-13 from the field to lead the starting group. Stephen Curry had 11 points and three 3-pointers, while Jrue Holiday and Devin Booker combined for 27 points as Team USA outscored Serbia’s bench 47-23.

Jokic couldn’t get to the middle of the lane as often as he did in the first half, as Davis and Adebayo limited the Denver Nuggets start to eight points on 4-of-10 shooting in the third and fourth quarter.

The Serbs made one final push led by Jokic before a 3-pointer from Holiday halted an 8-0 scoring run from the opposition to make it 89-73 with just over six minutes remaining. Booker knocked down a pair of triples in the final minutes to add to Team USA’s total point differential, an important facet to international basketball that could impact how the quarterfinal is seeded.

Petrusev, in his Olympic debut, finished with four points, five rebounds, two assists and a steal in 20 minutes as a starter. The 6-foot-11 post made both of his field goal attempts—a quieter performance than his 11-point outing against the U.S. in the exhibition game.

Gonzaga coach Mark Few and Team USA are back in action on Wednesday at noon against South Sudan, after Petrusev and Serbia take on Puerto Rico at 8:15 a.m.