110-84 Win Not Without Controversy
The United States Men’s Basketball team got their Olympic campaign underway with an impressive 110-84 win over Nikola Jokic and Serbia. The Americans put on a shooting clinic, making 43-of-69 field goal attempts, including a blistering 18-32 from distance. Kevin Durant, who had been nursing an injury, was dominant in the first half, scoring 21 points and hitting all five of his three-point attempts in less than nine minutes on the floor. Team USA flag bearer LeBron James had 21 points and nine assists in the victory.
Despite the convincing win, head coach Steve Kerr was left answering questions after leaving first-team All-NBA forward Jayson Tatum on the bench. It was the first time in Tatum’s international career that he didn’t play. Kerr declared that the decision was smatch-up based. “The hardest part of this job is you’re sitting at least a couple of guys who are world-class, some of the very best players on Earth. And so I felt like last night those were the combinations that made the most sense.”
Kerr left no doubt that Tatum would still play a role in the Olympics. “Jayson will play. We’re going to need him, and part of this job for me is to keep everybody engaged and ready because my experience with this is crazy stuff happens.”
The United States continue group play on Wednesday against South Sudan, who defeated Puerto Rico 90-79 on Sunday.
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