The rematch of the 2016 gold medal match was won again by the United States.
The U.S. men’s basketball team beat Serbia on Sunday to open its group stage for the 2024 Paris Olympics. The U.S. team is looking to win its fifth gold medal at this Summer Olympics and features some of the biggest Olympic superstars on its roster.
Those stars, especially Kevin Durant, came up big in the 110-84 victory. Durant led all scorers with 23 points, hitting 8-of-9 shots and a perfect 5-of-5 from the 3-point line.
With the win, the U.S. team is tied with South Sudan for the top spot in Group C. Group play continues on Wednesday when the U.S. team will face South Sudan.
USA TODAY Sports provided live updates, highlights and results throughout the game. Here’s what happened.
2024 Olympic Medals: Who is leading the medal count? Let’s track the medals in each sport to find out.
Highlights from Team USA vs. Serbia
When is Team USA’s next basketball game?
The USA will face South Sudan in their second group stage match on Wednesday, July 31. The match will kick off at 3:00 PM ET and will be broadcast on NBC.
Curry hits final blow as USA beats Serbia
Curry made a 3-pointer from the right wing with five seconds left to cap off a 110-84 victory for the U.S. over Serbia in their Olympic opener.
James draws a foul and converts a three-point play
With time running out, the four-time NBA MVP was still playing at full force: He drove to the rim, made a layup, drew a foul and finished off the play with a free throw.
Team USA dominates with 3-point shots
Serbia is attempting more 3-pointers, but the U.S. is better at shooting 3-pointers. As a team, Serbia made 8 of 34 3-pointers compared to 16 of 29 for the U.S. Durant leads the U.S. with 5 3-pointers.
Holiday calms Serbian competition
Serbia went on an 8-0 run to cut the U.S. lead, but the U.S. scored again when Holiday hit a step-back 3-pointer from the right corner.
Durant’s first miss
Two minutes into the final quarter, Durant missed his first shot, a pull-up jump shot from the right wing. The Paris crowd roared in response as a perfect shot from the field missed. But with seven minutes left, Team USA still led, 86-68.
White started the fourth quarter with a block.
Serbia’s Vasilije Micic took the first shot of the first quarter, but a Celtics guard blocked it.
Team USA continues to lead in the third quarter
With 10 minutes left, the U.S. led Serbia, 85-64.
Jokic to the bench
After playing the entire third quarter thus far, the three-time NBA MVP left the game with just over two minutes remaining in the third quarter.
James and Davis connect with lobs and dunks.
The two Lakers teammates showed off their chemistry with a perfect lob pass from James and a slam dunk from Davis, who drew a foul on the dunk and completed a three-point play. Team USA now led, 78-63.
Durant returns to Team USA
With under four minutes remaining in the third quarter, Durant returned to the court to roaring cheers from the crowd.
Derrick White enters
After a Serbia timeout, White came on to replace Curry.
James brings the crowd to its feet
The 39-year-old was near perfect on 8 of 9 field goals, forced a Serbian timeout with a fierce drive to the hoop and thrilled the Paris crowd before finishing with 18 points.
USA makes first substitution of the second half
After Embiid picked up his third foul, U.S. coach Steve Kerr opted to bring in Anthony Davis to replace the 76ers big man, and he scored the U.S.’ first points on the next attempt with a layup.
Avramovic draws offensive foul on James
Avramovic stood tall against the 6-foot-9, 250-pound James and again forced Team USA into turnovers.
The officials called an unsportsmanlike foul on Embiid.
After review, the officials ruled Embiid’s foul was severe enough to be ruled an unsportsmanlike foul. Aleksa Avramovic made both of the ensuing free throws. The U.S. now leads Serbia, 63-53.
Official review begins for unsportsmanlike fouls by U.S. team
While on defense, James and Embiid got tangled with several Serbian players, and officials are investigating both incidents for possible unsportsmanlike fouls.
Curry limps early in the third quarter
Curry appeared to bump knees with a Serbian defender early in the second half, but he remained on the court and is currently playing through the injury.
Team USA second half lineup
Booker, Holiday, Curry, James and Embiid will return for the second half of the game for the U.S.
Durant leads U.S. at halftime
As the first half drew to a close, Durant continued to play his perfect game from the field, hitting a buzzer-beating fadeaway jump shot and scoring seven points after his return, going 8-of-8 from the field and 5-of-5 from 3-point range for a total of 21 points, which still led all scorers.
James was also perfect from the field, making 5 of 5 attempts and scoring 12 points, including one three-pointer, as the U.S. led 58-49 at halftime.
Kevin Durant has been a dominant force since joining the team.
Durant entered the court with 2:30 remaining in the first quarter and led all scorers with 14 points at the six-minute mark. He was 5-for-5 from the field, including 4-for-4 from 3-point range. Team USA led 36-27 when Durant went to the bench.
Team USA leads at the end of the first quarter
A lob from James and a dunk from Edwards put the final exclamation point on an 11-0 U.S. run to end the quarter. Serbia led 20-14 when Jokic went to the bench, but the U.S. led 25-20 after the first 10 minutes.
Edwards and Durant stave off Serbia’s scoring rush
After Serbia went on an 8-0 run to retake the lead, Kevin Durant and Anthony Edwards hit back-to-back 3-pointers to tie the score with Team USA. The game was tied at 20-20 with two minutes left in the first quarter.
USA leads 12-2
Back-to-back 3-pointers from Stephen Curry and Devin Booker and some strong defense gave the U.S. the lead for the first time midway through the first quarter. The U.S. led Serbia, 14-12.
LeBron James’ slam scores for the USA team
After Serbia led 4-0 early in the game, the U.S. flag bearer stole the ball from Nikola Jokic and ran down the court for an easy dunk to put the U.S. in the lead, but U.S. mistakes allowed Serbia to keep scoring and hold a 10-2 lead after three minutes.
USA vs Australia: Time, TV, Streaming and How to Watch
- date: Sunday, July 28
- time: 11:15 ET
- position: Pierre Mauroy Stadium, Villeneuve d’Ascq, France
- tv set: NBC
- Streaming: Peacock, Fubo
How to watch:Watch all of the Paris Olympics with a Peacock subscription
What time is the USA vs Serbia match?
The match between the USA and Serbia will kick off at 11:15 a.m. ET.
How can I watch the USA vs Serbia Olympic game?
NBC will broadcast the game, and Peacock will live stream it.
Will Kevin Durant play in the Serbia game?
U.S. men’s basketball star Kevin Durant has missed the national team’s five exhibition games with a sore calf, but is scheduled to play Sunday against Serbia in the opening Group C match of the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Durant, the all-time leading scorer in men’s basketball history and seeking to become the first men’s basketball player to win four gold medals, practiced on Wednesday, took part in a scrimmage on Thursday and is scheduled to practice again on Saturday.
“We’ll see how it goes in practice (Saturday),” USA men’s basketball coach Steve Kerr said. “So far, so good. He came through the scrimmage two days ago pretty well. … I’ve coached him before, and he’s one of the few guys that can get back on the court and perform at a Kevin Durant level. Most guys take time to get back in rhythm, and I think he does to some extent, but he’s a really special player.”
The remaining Team USA Olympic men’s basketball schedule:
Sunday, July 28
- USA vs. Serbia: 11:15 a.m. ET
Wednesday, July 31
- U.S. vs. South Sudan: 3 p.m.
Saturday, August 3
- Puerto Rico vs. United States: 11:15 a.m.
Team USA roster
- Bam Adebayo, Miami Heat
- Devin Booker, Phoenix Suns
- Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors
- Anthony Davis, Los Angeles Lakers
- Kevin Durant, Phoenix Suns
- Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves
- Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers
- Tyrese Haliburton, Indiana Pacers
- Jrue Holiday, Boston Celtics
- LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers
- Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics
- Derrick White, Boston Celtics
Serbia team roster
- Vasilije Misic, Charlotte Hornets
- Alexei Pokusevskiy, free agent
- Bogdan Bogdanovic, Atlanta Hawks
- Nikola Jovic, Miami Heat
- Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets)
- Marko Guduric, Fenerbahce (Türkiye)
- Ognjen Dobrich, Virtus Bologna (Italy)
- Filip Petrushev, Olympiacos (Greece)
- Nikola Milutinov, Olympiacos (Greece)
- Dusan Ristic, Pablo Burgos (Spain)
- Vanja Marinkovic, Partizan (Serbia)
- Aleksa Abramovic, Partizan (Serbia)
- Ognjen Haramaz, Partizan (Serbia)
- Dejan Davidovac, Crvena Zvezda (Serbia)
- Uroš Plavšić, Crvena Zvezda (Serbia)
- Alexa Ladanov, Luna Basket Moscow (Russia)
Olympic medal count
The Paris 2024 Olympic Medal Count Tracker is updated after each medal event.
Latest Olympic highlights and results
Follow all the highlights and results from Sunday on USA TODAY’s live blog.
Team USA starting lineup
- Jrue Holiday
- Stephen Curry
- Devin Booker
- LeBron James
- Joel Embiid
Serbia team starting lineup
- Alexa Avramovic
- Bogdan Bogdanovic
- Ognjen Dobrich
- Nikola Jokic
- Philip Petrushev
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