Basketball: Team USA beats Serbia and dreams of gold

It was a difficult start for Team USA. A bad performance could have made the tournament, full of worthy opponents, an uphill battle. But the Americans made it clear: they are the team to beat.

The team led by LeBron James, and seconded by other superstars like Stephen Curry and Joel Embiid, beat Serbian NBA MVP Nikola Jokic 110-84.

As AFP reports, Kevin Durant, with three gold medals already to his name, kicked off his chase for a fourth with a masterpiece: 21 points without a miss and five 3-pointers in the first half in just 8 minutes and 39 seconds of play, capping off his perfect half with buzzer-beater to send the game to halftime.

His best teammate was his NBA nemesis, LeBron James, who celebrated becoming the oldest player to play for Team USA at 39 years old, with a solid scoring performance (21 points) and steady veteran leadership of his squad.