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Team USA Wins Gold in Rio

Team USA saved their best for last, riding an early lead to an eventual 96-66 victory over Serbia in the Olympic Final on Sunday.

USA Basketball at 2016 Summer Olympics

Team USA saved their best for last, riding an early lead to an eventual 96-66 victory over Serbia in the Olympic Final on Sunday. Kevin Durant posted his highest scoring effort of the Olympics, leading all players with 30 points and five three-pointers. Klay Thompson and Draymond Green added 12 and two points, respectively. With the victory, Team USA secured its third consecutive Olympic gold medal.

The U.S. National Team narrowly defeated Serbia in the preliminary round, and at the outset of the Final, it appeared they might be in store for another tightly fought contest. Serbia drained a three-pointer to open the scoring and held a slight advantage for much of the first quarter. Serbia trailed by a single point in the final minute of the frame before Kevin Durant sank his first three-pointer of the day, closing the scoring in the quarter and giving Team USA their largest lead of the game up to that point, leading 19-15.

Durant’s three-pointer proved to be a sign of things to come, however, as the American’s leading scorer made sure Sunday’s Final would not come down to a last-second shot. After the U.S. had expanded their lead slightly to 25-17 through the first two minutes of the second quarter, Durant converted consecutive three-pointers, punctuated by a steal and fast break dunk, all in a span of 59 seconds. That sequence ballooned Team USA’s advantage to double-digits, and they’d never look back. Klay Thompson would get in on the long-range action, making his first three-pointer of the contest with 4:20 remaining in the first half. Durant would close out the second frame just like he did the first, making his fourth three-pointer of the quarter with 28 seconds left to give Team USA a commanding 52-29 lead going into halftime.

With Olympic gold well in their sights, the U.S. National Team didn’t let off the gas. Leading 55-33, Thompson converted a layup off an assist from Durant to ignite a stretch in which he scored or assisted on nine-straight American points. Durant would add four more points by way of free throws throughout the remainder of the frame, giving him a total of 159 points throughout the Olympic tournament, constituting the second-highest point total by a member of Team USA at a single Olympic competition (Durant scored 156 points in 2012). When the quarter buzzer sounded, Team USA led 79-43 with only 10 minutes remaining between them and their third-consecutive Olympic gold medal.

Kevin Durant

PTS: 30
REB: 3
AST: 4

Klay Thompson

PTS: 12
REB: 3
AST: 1

Green

PTS: 2
REB: 1
AST: 0

Thompson would sit out the entire duration of the fourth quarter, while Durant checked out for the final time with 8:55 remaining in the game. Draymond Green would check in for his first action of the contest a minute later, and eventually tally his first points of the day on a layup with 3:23 remaining to give Team USA a 90-49 lead. That advantage proved to be far more than enough, as the U.S. Men’s National Team coasted to an eventual 96-66 victory to win the gold medal.

This is the second Olympic gold medal for Durant, as he previously won gold at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Green and Thompson each earned their first Olympic gold medal. The Warriors are just the second NBA team to boast a trio of players on Team USA at the Olympic Games since active NBA players began participating in the Olympics in 1992 (Oklahoma City Thunder in 2012). Durant, Green and Thompson join Chris Mullin (1992) as the only Warriors players to capture Olympic gold.