Team USA topped Serbia 110-84 in their 2024 Paris Summer Olympic opener Sunday at Pierre Mauroy Stadium.
Jrue Holiday finished with 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting, including 3-of-5 from behind the arc to go along with four rebounds, three assists, and two steals in 24 minutes as a starter -- only LeBron James was on the court longer with 27 minutes played.
Derrick White was one of the firsts off the bench to record two points on 1-of-2 from the floor, two steals, an assist, a block, and a rebound in 16 minutes of action, while Jayson Tatum didn't play at all -- which was a coach's decision.
According to Team USA's head coach Steve Kerr, the reason surrounding Tatum's DNP was based on the return of Kevin Durant, who scored a game-high 23 points (8-of-9 shooting, 5-of-5 from 3) in 17 minutes off the bench, from injury when it came to setting his rotation for Sunday.
"It's really hard in a 40-minute game to play more than 10 guys," Kerr told reporters. "With Kevin coming back, I just went to the combinations that I felt made the most sense. It seems crazy. I thought I was crazy when I looked at everything and determined these are the lineups I wanted to get to.
"Jayson is first-team All-NBA three years in a row. He's one of the best players in the world. I went with the combinations I felt would make sense, and I talked to him, and he was incredibly professional."
Kerr assured that Tatum would play and make an impact during Team USA's quest to win their fifth-straight gold medal and commended the Celtics champion for handing the benching well.
"[Tatum will] make his mark," Kerr said. "Our guys know the key to this whole thing is to put all the NBA stuff in the rearview mirror and just win six games. Jayson is the ultimate pro and champion and he handled it well, and he's going to be ready for the next game."
Meanwhile, James scored 21 points on 9-of-13 from the field, grabbed seven rebounds, and dished out a team-high nine assists as he and Durant became the first American duo to each net 20 or more points in Olympic competition. Devin Booker had 12 points on 4-of-5 from 3-point territory for the United States, as they beat Serbia for the second time in less than two weeks.
The reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic led Serbia with 20 points, and eight assists, while Bogdan Bogdanovic added 14 points and Ognjen Dobric chipped in 13 points in the loss.
Serbia jumped out to a 10-2 lead in the opening quarter before Team USA responded with a 16-3 run of their own and never looked back the rest of the way which eventually turned into a blowout.
Next up for the United States in group stage play is Wednesday against South Sudan, with a 3:00 pm ET tip-off on USA.
Joel Pavón
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