United State He reaffirmed his preference in men’s basketball and Won the gold medal at the Olympics after beating France 87-82. With great performance from Kevin Durant, the team’s top scorer with 29 points, led by the team Greg Popovich He was crowned champion for the fourth time in a row Tokyo 2020.

It was not an easy tournament for a team that suffers from NBA players. After the doubts left by the friendly matches in preparation for the Las Vegas game, the start was not the best. Just before competing in the Olympic final, the United States lost at the premiere: letting the French team win 83-76 and it looked like it was going to be a tough tournament for the Americans. But since that fall, everything has changed.

Comfortable victories over the Czech Republic put Iran in second place in Group A. In this way , Crossing into the quarter-finals was nothing more and nothing less against Spain, one of the other title candidates in Japan. Although Ricky Rubio scored 38 points, Durant’s appearance was crucial to a clear win (95-81).

Already in the semi-finals, the opponent was AustraliaWhich came from the superiority of the Argentine national team in the farewell to Luis Scola. As in previous duels, the third quarter was the meeting’s breaking point: the US 22 away (32-10) and Popovic-headed ones snatched a valuable win to once again qualify for the Olympics.

In the gold medal game and as expected, The Americans and the French competed on equal terms. The Europeans stayed close to the scoreboard along with the Giant’s defense Rudy Gobert, and in the attack with the contribution Evan Fournier, New promotion for the New York Knicks from the NBA. for this part, The United States saved themselves with a superb attacking display from Durant, who put the team on his shoulders and finished with 21 points in the first half..

The second half was as tight as the first part of the match. With the United States always at the front, Popovic’s side were able to take the advantage thanks to the contribution of the Boston Celtics player Jason Tatum, in addition to the defensive modifications of Jrue holiday. The head guard, who had just been a champ with the Milwaukee Bucks, was instrumental in his defensive presence to make De Colo uncomfortable.

in the last seconds France closed the distance, but it was not enough to win again against the United States, which had Durant once again as a character in The Game of Gold. As he did four years ago at Rio 2016, when he scored 30 points, the same as in the London 2012 definition. Fourth gold medal for the United States, since falling to Argentina’s Mano Ginobili, Luis Scola, Andres Nocioni and the rest of the golden generation at Athens 2004, has already added four Olympic titles in a row.

Read on: