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‘Kevin Durant Captain America’: LeBron James, Michael Jordan, & Others React to Team USA Winning Gold Medal at Tokyo Olympics

Published 08/07/2021, 12:56 AM EDT

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via Reuters

Team USA met the French team in their gold medal game, where they again showed that a lousy start means nothing to the end result. Thanks to a crazy performance from Kevin Durant, they did not just stay in the game but soon started dominating. 

The defending champions took all three quarters quite comfortably as the European side kept turning over poorly. It was the duo of Rudy Gobert and Evan Fournier, who posed some trouble, but that was far from enough. Team USA won the game 87-82 and also their fourth consecutive Olympic Gold. 

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LeBron James and the entire American basketball fraternity erupted

With just 10 seconds remaining in the game, it was a one-possession game. Given Nicolas Batum’s clutch block that won them the game against Slovenia, the Frenchmen expected a similar clutch performance from him. However, a desperate Rudy Gobert fouled and gave Kevin Durant two clutch free throws, which the latter successfully converted.

KD finished the night with 29 points, 6 rebs, 3 assists, and 1 block with 50% field shooting and 88.9% FT shooting. With that, he improved his series average to 20.66 and proved why he deserved all the praise.

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Team USA’s Kevin Durant Beats LeBron James & Michael Jordan for a Rare Olympics Record

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Where did Team USA dominate over Team France?

The US side was clear in their head that they wouldn’t defend Rudy Gobert outside of the arc. Well, as much as it saved them some double teams inside the paint, nothing that could stop Rudy from making easy layups and dunks. However, it all went down in the drain as they were pathetic from the free-throw line. They went 18/29 from FT with Rudy alone going 6/13, missing a couple in the final minutes.

Notably, Jrue Holiday‘s defense was on-point as he finished with 3 steals and a block that helped them with some successful transition plays. The French team turned over the ball 18 times as opposed to the USA’s nine. This proved to be a defining factor as the US side showed how they are fundamentally stronger. With that, it was Jayson Tatum‘s stupendous performance from the perimeter that kept the scoreboard ticking.

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Who do you think was the MVP for this series? Help us know in the comments section below.

Watch this story – Top Highlights from Men’s Basketball Semis Between the United States and Australia

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Written by:

Sourabh Singh

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Sourabh Singh is an NBA sports analyst for EssentiallySports, who has been working with the site since May 2020. Prior to this, he functioned as Managing Editor at WittyFeed, followed by a stint at Decathlon. The Sports Management graduate leads an active lifestyle, veering to the mountains for off-trail adventures.
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