RIO DE JANEIRO — Break a leg. Come back. Win a gold medal.
In capsule form, that is Paul George’s story. There are many great ones at an Olympic Games, and his is as good as any.
“I just finalized this whole story, put it to rest,” the Indiana Pacers forward said. “I’m officially back.”
The United States won its third consecutive gold medal Sunday, beating Serbia 96-66 in what was nearly the biggest gold-medal blowout since basketball was introduced at the Olympics in 1936.
The Americans led by as many as 41 points. The record margin is 44, set in Team USA’s 65-21 victory over France in 1948. Thirty points is the largest margin since Team USA’s 117-85 victory over Croatia in 1992.
In 22 minutes, George had nine points and three steals. The Americans were plus-37 with him on the floor.
Kevin Durant scored 18 of his 30 points in the second quarter, when the Americans pulled away to stay. That was important. So was defense applied by George against Serbian point guard Milos Teodosic.
“I took it upon myself to take him out of the game,” George said.
His length and mobility inhibited Teodosic, and the Americans limited Serbia to 14 second-quarter points in building a 52-29 halftime lead. Teodosic, averaging 12.1 points and 5.4 assists for the tournament, finished with nine and three, respectively.
“I thought Paul George came in, gave us a big lift,” U.S. assistant coach Tom Thibodeau said.
George played off the bench, as he usually did during an 8-0 Olympic run. Yet the consensus of those watching the entire tournament was that George was the team’s second-best player behind Durant.
George averaged 11.3 points. Durant was at 19.4, Carmelo Anthony 12.1 and Kyrie Irving 11.4. Anthony’s gold medal was his third, a record in men’s basketball.
George said he was indifferent to his sixth man role.
"We know how good we are as individuals," he said. "I have no ego when it comes to that."
Other NBA stars declined invitations to play in the Olympics, notably LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Anthony Davis. George said those on this team wearied of hearing how impaired they were.
“In spite of what people said about this group, being less talented, not blowing teams out, not putting people away ... I thought we did a good job of being mindful of that, kind of bottling that all up and unleashing all that tonight on Serbia," George said.
George said coach Mike Krzyzewski spoke to him before the game, reminding him of that day Aug. 1, 2014, when the Pacer suffered a compound fracture of his leg during a USA Basketball scrimmage. The day would come, Coach K told him, when he would be playing for a gold medal.
“The fact is, you look back a couple of years and he's lying on a floor in Las Vegas, not knowing whether his career was over,” said Jerry Colangelo, managing director for USA Basketball. “Let alone being able to make our team, participate and get a gold medal. It's a big day for him.”
George is the second Pacer with an Olympic gold medal. Reggie Miller won one at Atlanta in 1996.
A photo posted by Paul George (@ygtrece) on
