LeBron James was feeling some nervousness, some butterflies, and maybe even a bit of angst as he listened to the national anthem before his first Olympic game in 12 years. It all went away quickly. James and Kevin Durant—the two most experienced Olympians on this American team—opened the Paris Games and a US bid for a fifth consecutive gold medal with a near-perfect show on Sunday, the AP reports. Durant made his first eight shots and scored 23 points, while James added 21 points, nine assists, and seven rebounds in a 110-84 win over Serbia in the Olympic opener for both teams.
"That's the best game we've played so far," James said after the Americans improved to 6-0 this summer, 1-0 in the tournament that matters. James and Durant were a combined 18 for 22 from the field—8 of 9 for Durant, 9 of 13 for James—as the US had no trouble with the World Cup silver medalists from last summer in the Philippines. Jrue Holiday scored 15, Devin Booker had 12, and Anthony Edwards and Stephen Curry each added 11 for the US. "It's going to be somebody different every day," James said.
Both teams return to action on Wednesday, with the US taking on upstart South Sudan—a rematch of a 101-100 escape win for the Americans in an exhibition in London earlier this month—and Serbia meeting Puerto Rico in what could essentially be an elimination game for both teams. "Very, very important to get off to a good start in this tournament because every game is so big," Curry said after the game Sunday, per the AP. "You only have six of them if you want to get to the gold."
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