As the legendary Dawn Staley said on the NBC postgame show, Devin Booker was “the unsung hero” in Team USA’s 110-84 win over Serbia to begin the 2024 Paris Olympics.
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— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) July 28, 2024
The Suns star guard finished with 12 points and was 4-for-5 from 3, adding five assists, two rebounds and two steals in 26 minutes, all while defending Serbia’s best guards and wings.
Devin Booker against Serbia:
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— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) July 28, 2024
Booker started alongside Stephen Curry, Jrue Holiday, LeBron James and Joel Embiid against Serbia, the same starting lineup the U.S. used in their final two exhibition games. Suns teammate Kevin Durant came off the bench and dominated with a team-high 23 points on 8-of-9 shooting in his return to action from a calf injury.
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— USA Basketball (@usabasketball) July 28, 2024
After a slow start going down 10-2, Team USA came back quickly, led primarily by two straight 3-pointers by Booker that sparked a 9-0 U.S. run to put them up 14-12. Booker was the last starter remaining in the game for Phoenix before Durant subbed in for him with 2:33 remaining in the first quarter.
Book it. 2/3 from 3 in the quarter.
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— USA Basketball (@usabasketball) July 28, 2024
When Booker was out, Durant went to work for Team USA, recording 14 points on 5-of-5 shooting (4-for-4 from 3) before Booker checked in with 6:40 left in the first half with the U.S. up 35-25. After subbing back in, Booker did not score the rest of the half. With Team USA leading 58-49 at halftime, Booker had six points on 2-of-3 shooting, one rebound, one assist and a steal and in a team-high 14 minutes.
In the third quarter, Booker missed a shot and recorded a rebound and an assist. The U.S. led 84-65 heading into the fourth quarter.
Booker’s first minutes of the fourth came when he checked in for Durant with 5:38 to go and the U.S. leading 89-73. He had a beautiful assist to Anthony Davis on a pick-and-roll and then cashed a 3 off of a James assist on the next possession to give the U.S. a 96-79 lead with 3:23 to go. Booker made another 3, his fourth of the night, with 1:55 remaining to put the U.S. up 101-79, and shut the door on Serbia. Team USA went on to win 110-84.
Team USA will play their second game of group play on Wednesday (July 31) against South Sudan at 12 p.m. MST. South Sudan barely lost to Team USA in an exhibition a couple weeks ago and defeated Puerto Rico 90-79 earlier today.
Kevin Durant goes off in return to Team USA, 1st Olympic game
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Brendan Mau is a senior writer covering the Phoenix Suns and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @Brendan_Mau
