LILLE – It’s a testament to the depth, skill and fearlessness of the US men’s basketball team that they can motivate it to open the 2024 Olympics. . . of a sinister sixth kind.
Well, when this guy coming off the bench is the most level-headed scorer of all time in American history, what else can we expect?
He was more than Kevin Durant, of course. But in the United States’ 110-84 win over Serbia, he was the main protagonist, impressive on a team he shares with LeBron James and Stephen Curry.
“Phenomenal KD,” James said.
LeBron after his almost triple-double at the opening of #Paris2024 in the United States!??
? NBC and Peacock pic. twitter. com/fwFmQkEGdS
– NBA (@NBA) July 28, 2024
That sounded the alarm in the men’s competition, and it sounded very loudly on Sunday, and that is perhaps what we can expect from the Americans, not only in the organization phase, but also next week in the circular on the 16th.
Here are five takeaways from the first match of the U. S. Olympics. The reasons for the victory and why Jayson Tatum went from being an NBA champion to this one.
1. Kevin Durant seeks revenge
You know who he is. And in case you forgot, or if you haven’t studied USA Basketball, he has been the player for the US team in the last 3 Olympic Games.
Make those four, one game for the 2024 Olympics.
The rust from missing all five exhibition games, a handful of practices since camp started three weeks ago due to a calf strain and not being in uniform since April 29? It’s just a small factor.
“I’m tired,” he says. “I’m not going to lie to you. “
And from what everyone saw in his last practice, where it seemed that he could not miss it, what he did on Sunday is not surprising.
“He showed why he’s my favorite player of all time,” Anthony Edwards said.
So, Durant just re-established himself as an American force at the Olympics with some incredible shots. The jumper right before halftime, off a pass from LeBron? The chef’s kiss.
“He’s the most talented player I’ve ever seen in my life, for a guy of that size, able to throw the ball so well with athletic movement and fluidity,” U. S. coach Steve Kerr said.
Durant energized the first half by hitting all his shots, connecting on all five of his three-point shots and missing his ninth shot.
“And let me tell you,” Durant said of that shot, “it felt amazing to leave my hands. I wanted to end the night strong.
In a way it was.
“I made it easy,” Kerr said. It has relocated. “
In his 1,061 games played in the NBA, Durant came off the bench only three times. This time, it was similar to an injury and Kerr didn’t have to rush.
Durant will most likely start on Wednesday, but even if he doesn’t?
“I am able to do anything and adapt to anything,” he said.
2. The fastest guy is the oldest.
Aside from seeing Durant back-to-back, the most recurring scene on Sunday is LeBron’s ability to beat everyone on the ball, in the spot and on the court.
It is said that this year he will turn 40 years old.
Once again, LeBron defied all common biological sense and power legislation for 27 minutes. He led the counterattack, pushing the ball in and hurting Serbia. His assists discovered his teammates (nine assists), he reached his shooting points (21 points) and outplayed players to the glass (eight rebounds).
He’s simply faster than any Serbian has thrown at him.
“It scares the team,” Durant said.
It’s an overall feature forged from LeBron, two decades after his first Olympic appearance. He played the role of soul and starter of this team, as evidenced by two great lobs from Edwards and Anthony Davis.
“LeBron makes his mark on the game in a lot of other ways,” Kerr said. “It’s just his skills, his excitement, his confidence and the way he inspires our team. At 39 years old, it’s just amazing.
3. The Embiid enigma continues
The 2022-23 Kia MVP raises even more questions than his game point. He was inconsistent, a little reckless and probably wasn’t fit or in the most productive form in exhibition games. Nothing replaced the Olympic opening.
Serbia jumped out to a 10-2 lead with Embiid in the starting lineup. The American team had its most productive streak once it temporarily overtook Kerr.
What happens from here? If Kerr benched Embiid (three fouls, two baskets), it would be admitting a mistake, but Davis and even Bam Adebayo have looked better since the start of camp. However, Kerr puts them in tandem on the bench.
Embiid is also very likely to excel in another way for the rest of this tournament: he was booed, unsurprisingly, on Sunday because the French don’t forgive and don’t forgive easily.
When Embiid, who holds dual citizenship, chose to play for the U. S. national team instead of France (he said that for his son, born in the United States), the locals didn’t take it well, even though Cameroon-born Embiid has no ties to basketball or not, in France.
4. Celtic was… Derrick White?
He joined the team at the last minute, but was one of the first players to leave the bench on Sunday. To say White’s rise has ballooned meteorically would be an understatement.
There are reasons why Kerr likes him. The whites ask for the ball or the minutes, they adapt fluently to any formation and their defense is excellent. Five minutes after scoring against Serbia, White had two interceptions and contributed to the comeback.
It’s just his quick hands, but also his feet like target, which are wonderful in changes and stay in position to change things.
He probably means he’s giving Team USA everything they would have gained from Kawhi Leonard, the player he replaced two weeks ago.
5. Tatum gets on the bench
He went from winning a championship to not playing a minute in the first Olympic match. This is an unforeseen drop in a month.
Last time, Tatum never left the bench in high school, if he ever did. He did not stay after the adjustment to confirm.
But Kerr confirmed, “He treated him well. “
It’s one of the uncomfortable conditions in a 12-star team. Someone may not see many minutes or no minutes at all. Davis, for example, hesitated at his first Olympics in 2012.
In this case, Kerr intended to burn Durant, who had not played a game for almost three months, and it came at Tatum’s expense.
“It’s hard in a 40-minute game to play against more than 10 guys,” Kerr said. “I went with the combinations that would make the most sense. It sounds crazy. I thought I was crazy when I saw everything. Jayson is one of the most productive players in the world. I talked to him, he was incredibly professional.
As with everything on this team, Kerr said nothing is permanent and that the game can bring something different.
“The key to this is to separate all things NBA and win six games,” Kerr said. “He will leave his mark. “
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Shaun Powell has covered the NBA for more than 25 years. You can email him here, archive him here, and follow up with him on X.
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