Kevin Durant scored 25 points as the US’ NBA stars routed China 119-62 on Saturday to launch their bid for a third consecutive Olympic basketball gold.
The former Oklahoma City forward, who is to join the Golden State Warriors next season, added a game-high six assists for the US, who set an all-time US record of 33 free-throws made.
Australia opened the Olympic competition earlier in the day with an 87-66 win over France, while Serbia topped Venezuela.
Photo: EPA
The US missed their first five shots, but soon displayed the unrivaled depth and long-range shooting that makes them prohibitive favorites to secure a 15th overall men’s title.
They thoroughly dominated, despite signs that the recently assembled unit is yet to completely gel.
“It still can be better and that’s what makes us scary,” said New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony, who is seeking a record third men’s hoops gold.
“We wanted to send a message to the rest of the world that we mean business,” he said.
Led by 25 points from former NBA lottery pick Yi Jianlian, China put up a spirited effort, showing that they could cause trouble for other teams.
China, who have never finished higher than eighth, tried to slow the US onslaught with physicality, a strategy that kept their opponents parked at the free-throw line.
The US made 33 from the stripe, besting a 56-year-old team record of 32. Durant scored eight points in the first quarter and Anthony added eight more as the US jumped to a 30-10 lead.
China hung tight in the second quarter until Durant sank three-pointers on three consecutive possessions shortly before the half, which ended with the US ahead 59-30.
By half-time, only Cleveland Cavaliers NBA champion guard Kyrie Irving had failed to score for the US. He made up for it, striking four times in a stretch of five straight US three-pointers to put the team up 87-43.
“The USA are so aggressive in every position. You can’t even pick out the best player. They’re everywhere,” China guard Zhao Jiwei said.
Earlier, Australia center Andrew Bogut shrugged off the leg injury that knocked him out of the NBA finals to dominate France inside with 18 points.
Playing on a taped left knee, the new Dallas Maverick center hammered down a half-dozen rim-jarring dunks, most of them on alley-oops from Patty Mills of the San Antonio Spurs and Matthew Dellavedova of the Cavs. Mills led the green-and-gold with 21 points.
Left-knee bone bruises crucially knocked Bogut out in Game 5 of the NBA Finals as his former team Golden State sought to cap a record 73 regular-season wins with a repeat title.
Cleveland won, and Bogut embarked on a desperate rehab to get ready for Rio de Janeiro.
“All I thought about was that I was not going to have it [the Olympics] taken away from me,” said Bogut, who missed the 2012 Games due to injury.
Spurs star guard Tony Parker led France with 18 points, but nearly all of that came in a late first-half spurt as the four-time NBA champ sought in vain to keep his team in the game.
In Saturday’s other Group A encounter, Serbia soured Venezuela’s long-shot hopes with an 86-62 win, led by 19 points from Bogdan Bogdanovic.
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