Watch: Kevin Durant starts off hot in Paris Games debut

Kevin Durant missed all of Team USA’s pre-Olympic warmup games. It didn’t take him long to heat up once the lights came on at the Paris Games.

If Team USA was worried Durant would be rusty in its opening game against Serbia Sunday, those concerns disappeared when KD hit all eight of his shots in the first half. Five of those makes came from three-point range.

Durant had 21 of the team’s 58 points in the first half, showing why he’s the most prolific American scorer in Olympic basketball history. It simply didn’t matter who was guarding him or where the “Slim Reaper” was shooting from — Durant was unstoppable in the first half.
7-foot Nikola Jokic in his face? No problem.

Durant was shooting so well that in the final seconds of the first half, coach Steve Kerr called on Steph Curry, the all-time three-point record holder, to go out and set a screen for his former teammate. Of course it went in.

This performance is why Team USA knew to stick with Durant through his injury struggles. Aside from one pass from LeBron James that surprised him, KD had no trouble fitting in.

Speaking of James, the veteran NBA superstar had a perfect first half of his own on Sunday, shooting 5-for-5 and scoring 12 points. He could have had more than four assists if his teammates were more ready for some of his more creative passes.

As far as being ready for the Olympics, Durant is right there. America’s greatest Olympic basketball player is back and that means trouble for the rest of the world.