Kevin Durant Scored 21 Points And Didn’t Miss A Shot In The First Half Against Serbia

Coming into Sunday’s opener against Serbia, there was a little bit of concern around Team USA. They’d looked a touch shaky in their tune-up games, albeit winning all five of them, and one of the major concerns was with their offense, as they had not really gotten into a great rhythm in the halfcourt through five games.

A contributing factor in their offense not firing on all cylinders was the absence of Kevin Durant, who sat out the entire showcase slate with a calf strain. While the other 11 players are some of the world’s best, none of them are Durant, who can get his shot off against anyone at any time in a way few ever have been able to. On Sunday, Durant was back active despite earlier concerns he could still sit out, and (after spending his morning trying to figure out how Robert Downey Jr. could return to the MCU as Dr. Doom), he made his 2024 Team USA debut late in the first quarter.

Durant hit his first shot, announcing he was fully back, and then hit his second, and third, and fourth, and…well, he just never missed in the first half. KD finished the half with a ridiculous 21 points on 8-of-8 shooting (5-of-5 from three) in under nine minutes of play, helping Team USA erase an early deficit to Nikola Jokic’s Serbian squad and take a lead into the half.

His last bucket was maybe his most ridiculous, as he beat the first half buzzer on a spinning, falling midrange bucket off the catch on an ATO from Steve Kerr.

It was a truly remarkable half of basketball from Durant, who hadn’t played an actual game in months, having missed all five of the USA’s exhibition games with his calf issue. Him playing this game was a bit in doubt, but after 20 minutes of action he left no doubt that he is still one of the most dominant scorers on the planet and when he’s rolling, there’s just nothing you can do to stop him.