Team USA routs Puerto Rico for top seed in medal round - ESPN

LILLE, France — For three years, Team USA has been planning, recruiting and refining to reach this upcoming week in Paris. And they've aligned things in excellent position to claim their fifth consecutive gold medal.

The team took its final steps before heading to the French capital on Saturday, finishing off Olympic pool play 3-0 with a 104-83 victory over Puerto Rico to clinch the top overall seed in the medal round. That will begin Tuesday, where the U.S. will face Brazil in the quarterfinals at Bercy Arena.

«I think we got done what we wanted to accomplish, winning all three games and securing the top seed,» Team USA coach Steve Kerr said. «We know we have to play better. Part of this tournament is it gets harder as you go.»

The traits the team has been developing for the past four weeks once again were on display in front of 27,000 fans at Stade Pierre Mauroy.

There is Kevin Durant, the devastating bench scorer.

Durant put up 11 points in yet another impactful reserve performance. He has 48 points total across the three games in Lille and is now just five points from setting the all-time American Olympic scoring record, which is currently held by women's team great Lisa Leslie.

And when it wasn't Durant, it was his second-unit cohort Anthony Edwards, who put in 15 points in his first 10 minutes on the floor and 26 for the game on 11-of-15 shooting. His breakaway windmill dunk in the fourth quarter will be one of the lasting memories from the USA games in Lille over the past week.

«I wanted to dunk on somebody, but I ain't got a lane yet,» Edwards said. «So I'm glad I got that one.»

There was LeBron James, the timeless playmaker.

James started the past two games at point guard — Jrue Holiday sat out for precautionary