Team USA has been the heavy favorite to take home the gold medal for men’s basketball at the Paris Olympics and during Sunday’s opening game of the group phase, Team USA’s dominance was on full display. The club was a 13-point favorite over Serbia on the DraftKings Sportsbook and Team USA easily covered this line, defeating Serbia 110-84. Team USA ran out a starting lineup of Stephen Curry, Jrue Holiday, Devin Booker, LeBron James and Joel Embiid. James was the star of the show, stuffing the stat sheet with 21 points, nine assists and eight rebounds while shooting 9-for-13 from the field. Holiday was also effective in the first unit, posting 15 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals. Last but not least, Kevin Durant (calf) was cleared to play today after missing the exhibition matches and the 35-year-old was tremendous coming off the bench for Team USA, leading the team with 23 points on 8-of-9 shooting.
While Team USA ran away with their victory over Serbia on Sunday, Embiid’s struggles in the FIBA format continued, with the center finishing with only four points and two rebounds. Furthermore, Jayson Tatum was strangely a DNP CD and he said “no, I’m good” when asked if he was sick by the Boston Globe’s Gary Washburn following the contest.
In this loss for Serbia, Nikola Jokic unsurprisingly led the way with 20 points, eight assists, five rebounds and a game-high four steals, while Bogdan Bogdanovic chipped in with 14 points.
Team USA will continue the group phase when they face South Sudan on Wednesday at 3:00 PM EST and after showing no signs of rust Sunday, it wouldn’t be shocking at all to see Durant move into the starting lineup for Team USA. Given that Team USA’s coaching staff values Holiday’s veteran presence greatly, Booker would be the most likely candidate to move to the bench if Durant entered the starting lineup.
All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.
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