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NBA star Durant leads US basketball players into the final

The American basketball team has a chance of their fourth Olympic gold in a row after a 97:78 semi-final victory over Australia.

The US basketball players are in the final in Tokyo and can win Olympic gold for the fourth time in a row. The team around superstar Kevin Durant prevailed against Australia 97:78 (42:45) in Saitama on Thursday and easily recovered a temporary deficit of 15 points in the semifinals. The Brooklyn Nets’ Durant was the overwhelming winner on 23 points. The 32-year-old was already at the Olympic victories in 2012 and 2016.

The tournament in Japan has not necessarily gone according to plan for the NBA star ensemble. At the beginning, coach Gregg Popovich’s team lost. The defeat in the group stage against France was the first at the Olympic Games since 2004, in Athens the US professionals failed in the semifinals against eventual Olympic champion Argentina. In the Saitama Super Arena on Saturday it is either against European champion Slovenia or again against third place in the World Cup, France, for the 16th Olympic victory for the US selection.

Australia is fighting for bronze

The previously unbeaten Australians had given Durant and Co. some problems on the way there at the beginning. After the strong first quarter (24:18) they extended their lead (41:26). Only then did the Americans crank it up and didn’t give the Boomers a chance. Before the final quarter it was 74:55 for the USA after an offensive gala performance. The Australians can win their first basketball medal in the game for third place.

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