The Pierre-Mauroy stadium is still packed, with fans rushing in early to watch the American “Avengers” warm up. That doesn't stop Joel Embiid from being booed by the crowd during the presentation of the two teams, and then for each time he touches the ball.
As in preparation, the American starting five is caught out, notably by an Aleksa Avramovic who intercepts and goes for a layup. After less than three minutes of play, and a bad pass from a Joel Embiid still shaken by the crowd, Steve Kerr calls a timeout and takes off the Sixers' “franchise player”.
The Incredible Kevin Durant
Devin Booker finally gets the United States going, but it's Kevin Durant's entry that will change the game.
First placement, first ball, first basket. While Anthony Edwards did a huge defensive job on Bogdan Bogdanovic, the United States regained the advantage at the end of the first quarter (25-20).
And Kevin Durant doesn't stop there. Contested or not, the Suns winger's baskets all fall in. Nikola Jokic plays with his elbows and his technique near the circle and while Bogdan Bogdanovic finally scores a 3-pointer (which he celebrates with a furious point), Serbia stays in the game.
The problem is that Kevin Durant is disgusting. A first-time 3-pointer, and the basket (almost) at the halftime buzzer later, here he is at 21 points on a perfect 8/8 shooting including 5/5 on 3-pointers in less than nine minutes on the court. Fortunately for the United States, who lead “only” 58-49 at the break.
Serbia is not keeping up
There was a lot of action between the two teams after the break, and Joel Embiid even got an unsportsmanlike warning for stopping Aleksa Avramovic a little too abruptly. The pivot was still finding some color, but it was mainly LeBron James who showed his muscles, both in defense and attack.
The “King” can leave after sending Anthony Davis to the alley-oop with the foul. Team USA goes to +15 (76-61).
Nikola Jokic does what he can to keep Serbia in the game, but Serbia lacks the offensive weapons to keep up with the Americans, and finds itself down 19 points (84-65) at the start of the final quarter, following some superb support work from Anthony Edwards along the Serbian baseline.
Kevin Durant finally misses a shot and Team USA's intensity drops, allowing Serbia to catch up (86-73). No panic, however, for the United States, with a 3-pointer from Jrue Holiday and then a floater from Stephen Curry.
Steve Kerr's players can thus manage the end of the match and validate this first success (110-84) in these 2024 Olympic Games.
Photo credit: FIBA
