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E-mail Xinhua, July 29, 2024
Kevin Durant scored 23 points and LeBron James added 21 points, nine assists and seven rebounds to lead the United States to a 110-84 thrashing of Serbia on the second day of the men's basketball competition at the Paris Olympic Games on Sunday.
Devin Booker (R) of the United States competes with Ognjen Dobric of Serbia during the men's basketball group C match between the United States and Serbia at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Lille, France, on July 28, 2024. (Xinhua/Meng Dingbo)
Durant had 21 points in the first half when he was 8 from 8 in the field as six American players scored in double digits, with Jrue Holiday on 15, Devin Booker with 12, and Stephen Curry and Anthony Edwards scoring 11 each.
The U.S. beat Serbia in almost every aspect on the court and shot 18 from 32 on 3-pointers, while Serbia were only 9 from 37 from the deep.
Serbia took an early 20-14 lead, but a 13-0 run from the U.S. turned the tables, and they led 27-20 at the start of the second quarter.
The U.S. managed a 58-49 lead before the break and extended the gap to collect their first win at Paris 2024. Nikola Jokic led Serbia with 20 points.
In the day's earlier match, South Sudan took victory on their Olympic debut, beating Puerto Rico 90-79.
Carlik Jones had 19 points, seven rebounds and six assists for South Sudan, who dominated the board with 55 rebounds to Puerto Rico's 37.
Jose Alvarado scored 26 points for Puerto Rico, who shot only 41 percent in the field and 35 percent on 3-pointers and missed 10 free throws in their 24 attempts.
In the women's competition, China lost to Spain 90-89 in overtime, while Serbia beat Puerto Rico.
China led for most of the match until Leonor Rodriguez's 3-pointer tied the game at 76-76 with six seconds left in the fourth quarter. Rodriguez, who had 25 points, even had chance to kill the game as she was fouled on the shooting attempt, but she missed the game-winning free throw.
Spain had the first lead in overtime and Maria Araujo's 3-pointer put her team 81-78 ahead. China center Li Yueru, who had 31 points and 15 rebounds, made a layup to help China close in 90-89, but there was no time left to overturn the deficit.
Megan Gustafson led Spain with 29 points and eight rebounds.
Trailing by as many as 20 points, Puerto Rico made a strong comeback to close within two points at 57-55 with 24 seconds to go in the fourth quarter, but Pamela Rosado's layup was blocked by Serbia's Dragana Stankovic, who buried the last free-throw in the following possession for the win.
