Kevin Durant returns to US lineup, scores 21 points in first half of Olympic opener against Serbia

VILLENEUVE-D’ASCQ, France (AP) — Kevin Durant is back. And in the first half of his debut with the U.S. Olympic team this summer at the Paris Games, he didn’t miss a beat.

Didn’t miss anything, in fact.

Durant — the all-time leading scorer in U.S. men’s Olympic history — scored 21 points on 8-for-8 shooting in just over 8 1/2 minutes of first-half action Sunday, helping the Americans to a 58-49 halftime lead over Serbia.

He had five 3-pointers in the half, and a fadeaway at the buzzer as he fell to the floor gave the U.S. the nine-point lead going to the locker room.

Durant was the fifth sub off the U.S. bench — the 10th man, essentially — on Sunday. It marked the fourth time in his last 1,320 games that he wasn’t a starter, that time span covering his one year of college ball at Texas, his NBA seasons including playoffs and 53 previous games with the U.S. men’s senior national team.

And he made coming off the bench look easy. Even at halftime, the reactions on social media site X were pouring in with high praise:

— “Just get KD the ball, pretty simple,” Sacramento Kings guard Kevin Huerter wrote.

— “KD ridiculous,” Rhode Island women’s basketball associate head coach Ali Jaques wrote.

— Added Rich Kleiman, Durant’s longtime business partner: “easy money!! what we talking about??!!!”

USA Basketball made the announcement that he would be available to play about an hour before the game. Durant missed all five of the team’s pre-Olympic exhibitions with a calf strain. He originally got hurt a few days before the team convened in Las Vegas for training camp in early July.

Durant is bidding to become the first four-time Olympic men’s basketball gold medalist. The all-time U.S. men’s leader in Olympic scoring was on the teams that won titles at the London Games in 2012, the Rio de Janeiro Games in 2016 and the Tokyo Games held three years ago.

Durant returned to full-fledged practice last week.