Takeaways from Team USA's Olympic win over Serbia - ESPN

LILLE, France — Team USA entered their first Olympic game coming off two underwhelming performances against South Sudan and Germany earlier this month. But they opened pool play Sunday with a 110-84 win over reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic and Serbia on Sunday.

Kevin Durant, the most decorated player in national team history, was cleared to return from a calf injury less than an hour before tipoff and came off the bench to be the game's leading scorer.

Here are the biggest takeaways from Team USA's Olympic opening victory over Serbia on Sunday.

It was two steps forward and one step back for Durant in his return from a calf injury. Durant said there were points in the process when he was frustrated by his slow return and points when he was nervous he wouldn't be able to make it back to play.

«I had good days and [then] I'd [have] a little setback here and I was nervous a little bit,» Durant said. «But I'm glad the trainers did it and calmed me down a lot and let me know what I was going through.»

Durant's timeline changed several times and Team USA coach Steve Kerr vacillated in his levels of optimism, illustrating what was going on behind the scenes. Durant said he knew he'd be able to play after he went through a full scrimmage on Thursday and woke up Friday with no pain. But Team USA considered him a game-time decision and didn't clear his return until about an hour before tipoff.

Durant played 17 minutes off the bench and was the game's leading scorer with 23 points. He went 5-of-5 from 3.

It's hard to argue with the results. Durant made it clear after the game he would do what Kerr wanted. Kerr said twice after the game he didn't know what he'd do for Wednesday's game against South Sudan.

«I told coach whatever he