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Team USA wins third Olympic gold in row

Xinhua, August 22, 2016 Adjust font size:

Team USA won the third consecutive Olympic gold medal when the Americans beat Serbia 96-66 in the men's basketball tournament at the Rio Olympics on Sunday.

This was the last gold medal of the 2016 Rio and the 25th Olympic victory of Team USA, which also had perfect 8-0 records in 2008 Beijing and 2012 London.

The U.S. beat Serbia 94-91 in the preliminary round, but proved it is a different story when the gold medal is on stake.

An organized Serbian team produced enough trouble for the U.S., as they did in the previous encounter, when the lead was exchanged five times and the game was tied four times in the first quarter.

But solid defence of the Americans shattered the confidence of the Europeans, who were hammered on one-on-one situation. The U.S. used a 24-7 run, initiated by Kevin Durant who scored 18 points in the second quarter, to take a comfortable lead on 43-22.

Serbia, which missed the 2008 and 2012 Games, never found their rythem of typical team work as the game was more like an NBA one.

This was the first Olympic medal for Serbia since 1996 Atlanta Games, when the then Yugoslavia won the silver medal after losing to the U.S..

The U.S. led 52-29 after two quarters, 79-43 after three before they won another one-sided game. The Americans averaged a 22.5-point winning margin in the tournament.

Durant had the game-high 30 points while DeMarcus Cousins had 13 points and 15 rebounds for the U.S..

The U.S. beat Serbia on the board by 54-33 and led as many as 41 points. Endit