Rio de Janeiro (AFP) – Kevin Durant scored 25 points as the US NBA stars routed China 119-62 Saturday to launch its bid for a third consecutive Olympic gold medal.
The former Oklahoma City forward set to join the Golden State Warriors next season, added a game-high six assists for the Americans, who continue Group A preliminary round play Monday against Venezuela.
A US Olympic free throw record fell as the Americans made 33-of-45 from the line, eclipsing the old mark of 32 made from the record 46 attempts in a 1960 game against Italy.
DeMarcus Cousins scored 17 points for the US team while Paul George had 15 and Kyrie Irving had 12.
Former NBA player Yi Jianlian scored 25 points to lead China.
The Americans improved to 6-0 against China in Olympic play and 3-0 since assembling last month, having won two lopsided exhibitions last month in California against the Asian champions.
The US NBA stars missed their first five shots but sank their next five and were never really threatened from there.
Durant scored eight points in the first quarter and Carmelo Anthony added eight as the USA jumped out to a 30-10 lead after the first quarter, capped by Jimmy Butler’s fast break reverse layin at the buzzer.
Cousins, DeAndre Jordan and Demar DeRozar all jammed in slam dunks bringing roars from the crowd.
China played the US NBA stars about level in the second quarter until Durant sank three consecutive 3-pointers on three consecutive US posssessions late in the second quarter. That stretched the American lead to 55-27 before Jordan’s slam dunk put the US ahead 59-30 at the break.
By half-time, only Irving had failed to score for the US squad. But the guard who helped spark Cleveland over Golden State in June’s NBA Finals made up for his slow start once he got going, hitting four in five US possessions to boost the American lead to 87-43.
From there, it was only a matter of how huge the final margin would become.
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