Durant came off the bench, scored 14 points and racked up three steals in the 103-86 win against the fellow Group C opponent. Tying for a team-high 22 minutes with his Suns teammate Devin Booker, Durant lit up the internet as he delivered a scoring clinic to advance the United States to 2-0.
Phoenix Suns superstar forward Kevin Durant stole the show again in Wednesday’s Team USA victory against South Sudan in the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
Durant came off the bench, scored 14 points and racked up three steals in the 103-86 win against the fellow Group C opponent. Tying for a team-high 22 minutes with his Suns teammate Devin Booker, Durant lit up the internet as he delivered a scoring clinic to advance the United States to 2-0.
Both field goal conversions (out of five attempts) from Durant came behind the 3-point line. He has now connected on 107 out of 212 3-point field goals in international competition in his career. That is good for a 50.5% 3-point shooting clip.
Not only did Durant put the ball in the basket, but he also grabbed a couple of boards and dropped three dimes. One of his assists particularly caught the attention of X users. It was a dish to Los Angeles Lakers center Anthony Davis on a pick-and-roll:
Durant also hit on eight of his nine free throw attempts. Hilariously, another clip went viral on X after Durant was seen and heard trash-talking South Sudan head coach Royal Ivey as he was shooting free throws:
This all comes one game after Sunday’s performance from Durant in which he came off the bench to score 23 points on 8-of-9 shooting (5-for-5 from 3). He also picked up a few rebounds and hit his free throw shots.
Even before Durant laced ’em up on Wednesday, he already ranked first in Team USA’s Olympic history in points scored with 458. Durant is now of course still in first, and up to 472 points scored in his Team USA Olympic career.
USA head coach Steve Kerr now has a decision to make when it comes to the starting lineup. Durant has come off the bench in the first two games, perhaps due to load management after Durant had a seemingly minor calf injury prior to the Olympics.
After how Durant has looked in the first two games this Olympics, though, Kerr may choose to let his former Golden State Warriors superstar loose and play him as a member of the starting five.
Team USA’s next Olympic matchup will be another Group C tilt Saturday against Puerto Rico. While Team USA is of course 2-0 to start the Olympics, Puerto Rico is 0-2.
