Duke basketball standout aids in monster victory for Team USA

Former Duke basketball standout Jayson Tatum added to Team USA’s monster victory. 

It was the biggest game of the summer for Team USA, and the Americans answered the bell behind Kevin Durant and former Duke basketball standout Jayson Tatum.

After defeating Spain in an exhibition game in July, the two countries met with much higher stakes on the line Tuesday afternoon in Tokyo.

The winners would play for a medal while the losers would return to their country disappointed. And Spain came out hot, taking an early lead on the Americans.

Team USA battled back to tie things up at halftime, and a strong second half pushed USA Basketball to the semifinals with a 95-81 victory.

Brooklyn Nets standout, and the leading Olympic scorer in USA Basketball history, Kevin Durant led Team USA with 29 points, although Spain’s Ricky Rubio led all scorers with 38 points.

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However, former Blue Devil Jayson Tatum came off the bench again to be the second-leading scorer for the Americans, chipping in 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the floor.

Tatum also added three rebounds and two assists in the victory while going 3-of-5 from 3-point range in his 18 minutes on the floor.

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After securing its victory against Spain, Team USA will at worst play for a bronze medal if the team were to lose in the semifinals against Australia on Thursday afternoon, Thursday morning in the East Coast in the United States.

Australia defeated Team USA in an exhibition game in Las Vegas in July after another poor second half doomed the Americans.

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France and Slovenia will play in the other semifinals as the French have already defeated USA Basketball in this Olympic Games while Slovenia is led by budding superstar Luka Doncic.

The winners of the two semifinals will play in the gold medal game on Friday, August 6 while the losers will play on Saturday, August 7 in the bronze medal game.