Olympics: US NBA stars rip Serbia for third gold in a row

It was Durant’s monster second quarter that ended any notion of an upset for Serbia and put the US on the gold-medal stand for the third consecutive Olympics with a 96-66 victory over the Serbians, who surprised in these Olympics by taking the silver.

It was the USA’s 15th overall men’s basketball gold medal since the sport was first added to the Olympic line-up in 1936.

America were struggling for fluidity but as the first quarter came to a close Durant landed their first three-pointer, giving them a 19-15 lead that they quickly built on.

Victory was never in doubt after a dominant second quarter, inspired by Kevin Durant, which saw the Americans pull 23 points clear at halftime.

The stint with Team USA came about a month after his announcement July 4 that he was leaving the Oklahoma City Thunder, a decision that prompted anger from fans and criticism in the media.

It was the farewell game for USA coach Mike Krzyzewski, who will be replaced by San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich.

Against a team that they beat by just three points in pool play, the USA grabbed control of the game in the second quarter and didn’t look back.

“It was a special moment for me”, Anthony said of winning his third gold.

Krzyzewski took the Americans back to the top and leaves with them there after becoming the first coach to win three Olympic gold medals.

After the game, Anthony told NBC’s Rosalyn Gold-Onwude that the Rio tournament would be his last.

“Coach (Mike Krzyzewski) sat me down and showed me some film of 2010 and he said, “I want to see that guy again”, Durant said. For the game, Durant shot 5-11 from three-point range and contributed four assists, three rebounds, two steals and a block, to go along with his 30 points. Their subpar play in Rio, likewise, was another reminder that the USA isn’t as invincible as they might seem.

It’s not surprising to hear Durant say he needed a buddy. “It was about taking the fight to them and I thought we did a great job of doing that tonight”. A bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens showed that the post-Dream Team practice of simply throwing together 12 All-Stars would no longer work against global teams that were improving and spending more time together playing in worldwide competition.