The Games of the XXX Olympiad concluded with four players from the Oklahoma City Thunder returning home with medals. Â Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, and the rest of Team USA defeated Serge Ibaka’s Spanish team on Sunday in the gold medal match 107-100.
Kevin Durant led all scorers in the gold medal game with 30 points, in addition to his 9 rebounds. Â In the process of leading Team USA to gold, Durant also set an Olympic record with 156 total points scored in the tournament. Â He set an American record by scoring 30 three-pointers in a single Olympics as well. Â Russell Westbrook played limited minutes in the final game after suffering a mild ankle sprain in the semifinals. Â Harden only played for one minute in the gold medal game, but he added 2 free throws in that short time.
The Spanish team fought hard throughout the game, never letting Team USA gain a comfortable lead. Â After having a limited impact in diminished minutes earlier in the tournament, Serge Ibaka saw more time in this game because Marc Gasol got in foul trouble early. Â Ibaka had 12 points, 9 boards, and 1 block in 22 minutes.
In other Olympic news, Liz Cambage, center for the WNBA’s Tulsa Shock, earned a bronze medal on the Australian team in their 83-74 win over Russia.
When the four Thunder Olympians return to Oklahoma, their team will look a little different than when they left. Â After the team drafted Perry Jones III in June, the team also added a few new faces in free agency. Â Hasheem Thabeet, Hollis Thompson, and Daniel Orton have all been signed in the past few weeks. Â Of course, with the Lakers’ acquisition of Steve Nash and Dwight Howard, the Western Conference will not quite look the same either.
The schedules for the 2012-2013 pre-season and regular season games were also released recently. Â The Thunder will face the San Antonio Spurs in their season opener on Thursday, November 1, before returning home the next night to play the Portland Trail Blazers in their first game of the season at Chesapeake Energy Arena.