USA vs. Serbia: Gold-Medal Game Score, Reaction for 2016 Olympic Basketball

The United States' run wasn't the pure basketball domination we've come to expect. It was messy, filled with last-minute wins, rotation changes and the near-constant specter of the world waiting to watch the team fail.

But the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro ended the same way as the last two: with golden glory.

Kevin Durant scored a game-high 30 points, and DeMarcus Cousins had a double-double as the United States exited Rio with a gold medal after Sunday's 96-66 win over Serbia.

It's the United States' 15th Olympic gold medal in men's basketball and sixth in the last seven Summer Games. Coach Mike Krzyzewski finished his stellar reign as coach of Team USA at 88-1 including exhibition games, with three Olympic gold medals and countless records set along the way. The U.S. has won 76 straight games total.

While Coach K's third gold might have been his most difficult, it was by far his easiest Olympic final.

The game's first 10 minutes were a microcosm of the U.S. effort in Rio, in that it was an unmitigated mess against a less talented team. Serbia watched almost idly as the U.S. shot itself in the foot with turnovers and stilted, dribble-heavy possessions. The Serbs led for nearly the entire first quarter before a late U.S. run put the defending champs up four.

Then Durant and Cousins ascended like basketball gods, gut-punched the upstarts and snatched gold.

The U.S. outscored Serbia 33-14 in the second quarter, taking advantage of a combination of Durant's threes and Cousins' unstoppable bully ball. Durant scored 24 of his 30 points before the halftime break, knocking down five threes and pulling up from distances that will make his new Golden State Warriors teammates proud. 

InsideHoops.com NBA commented on his first-half performance:

The 2014 NBA MVP finished 10-of-19 from the floor, with the gold-medal performance bringing his tournament average to 19.4 ppg. 

Cousins, again coming off the bench in favor of DeAndre Jordan, punished the Serbian bigs. He had 11 points and 12 rebounds by the break despite taking three shots; the Serbs were helpless trying to defend his back-to-the-basket game.

ESPN's Marc Stein noted Cousins' excellence against Serbia:

The bullying was a little less brutal in the second half, if only because the U.S. got so far ahead. Cousins finished his enigmatically inconsistent Olympic Games with 13 points and 15 rebounds.

Klay Thompson (12 points) was also in double figures for the U.S. The favorites shot 44.2 percent from the floor and dominated to the point even Draymond Green and Harrison Barnes—stapled to the bench for most of this run—got some floor time.

Carmelo Anthony, the team's elder statesman, scored seven points in his last international game. Anthony walks away as the most decorated men's basketball player in Olympic history. No other man has won three golds, and only Gennadi Volnov and Sergei Belov of the former Soviet Union have four total medals.

He even dunked, as SB Nation NBA noted:

“We ask the guys for a commitment and selfless service,” Krzyzewski said (via Michael Lee of The Vertical). “But Carmelo is a perfect example of commitment for the Olympics. That’s his entire playing career and to devote that amount of time is remarkable really, and it’s not been done. He’s been such a good guy to coach.”

Serbia, meanwhile, matches its best-ever Olympics with its worst performance of the tournament. Nemanja Nedovic (14 points) and Milan Macvan (11 points) were the only players who scored in double figures, and the team shot 38.2 percent as a whole.

Bogdan Bogdanovic, a 2014 first-round pick, shot 2-of-12 from the field after being a bench spark plug over the last two weeks. Serbian coach Aleksandar Dordevic saw it fit to just play Nikola Jokic—the gifted Denver Nuggets center—sparingly minutes, as he finished with six points and four rebounds off the bench. 

Matt Moore of CBS Sports commented on the strategy: 

"

Serbia had their best performances when they just fed Jokic. Helped in qualifiers, vs. Team USA 1st game etc. Bizarre coaching.

— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) August 21, 2016"

Serbia shot 4-of-24 from three, was out-rebounded 54-34 and out-talented in every aspect. It was nonetheless a promising Games for a country that did not so much as qualify in 2008 or 2012. Most (if not all) of its roster should return in 2020 and be a threat to medal again.

That said, the rest of the world is in the same position it was four, eight and 24 years ago: playing catch-up to the United States. With a half-dozen of the country's best players choosing to not make the Rio trip, this was never going to be a breezy Games. But the U.S. battled through its struggles, came out stronger and retained its status as the unquestioned king of international basketball.

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Postgame Reaction

Anthony confirmed this was his final Team USA game in an interview with NBC Sports (via Candace Buckner of the Washington Post): “This is the end. This is it for me. I committed to this in ’04. I’ve seen the worst, and I’ve seen the best,” he said, referring to the 2004 Athens Games when the U.S. surprisingly finished with the bronze. “I’m excited for me but also for the other guys who have never experienced anything like this.”

Krzyzewski commented on Anthony, per Karen Rosen of Team USA: 

"

He’s been such a good guy to coach and he’s accepted different roles. He wasn’t always a starter, he came off the bench, and he’s such a team player. 

In London (2012 Olympics), he was our second-leading scorer. But in this Olympics, he’s not only been a really good player, he’s been an outstanding leader. He’s tried to use his experience and he has instant respect with all the guys. His experience in what to say and what to do, it’s believed right away by the team and with so many new guys, 10 new Olympians, that’s helped a great deal.

"

The coach also talked about the differences from the last two Games:

"

I think there are more really outstanding teams in this Olympics than in ’08 and 2012, and that’s why you’ve seen the quality of the games. I think it says a lot for the continuity these other federations have had. These guys have played together. Also, more and more guys are in the NBA, or have been in the NBA, so as far as competition with us, there is a familiarity of playing against NBA players because they are or have been (NBA players), so I think that’s made it much more competitive also.

"

Follow Tyler Conway (@jtylerconway) on Twitter.