Team USA may have gone undefeated in it’s tune-up to the Olympics, but they scuffled mightily, and hardly looked like world beaters we anticipated they would be.
Apparently the missing ingredient was Kevin Durant.
The future Hall-of-Famer missed every exhibition game with a calf injury. Speculation swirled about the possibility of Team USA moving on to another option, especially if the Phoenix Suns requested that he withdraw, or Durant could make the decision on his own.
It turns out all that talk was for naught.
KD was utterly dominant in the United States’ 110-84 dismantling of Serbia. He scored 23 points on 8-of-9 shooting while going a perfect 5-for-5 from behind the arc. Durant was particularly dominant early on, coming off the bench to score 21 points in nine minutes. He went 8-for-8 in that stretch, playing a vital role in the United States taking a nine-point lead into the half. It proved pivotal as the US was a 7.5-point first-half favorite.
Team USA entered the Summer Games -500 to win it all. Meanwhile, Serbia had the fourth best odds (+1600) largely thanks to Nikola Jokic.
So, what did the win do for the United States’ odds?
They jumped a ton.
Team USA is now -650 to win gold. Canada is next closest at +1000 followed by France (+1400), Germany (+1400) and Serbia (+2000).
