BARCELONA, Spain — The U.S. Olympic men’s basketball team wore the throwback uniforms of the 1992 Dream Team on Sunday. The Americans’ play was much different.
Kevin Durant scored 27 points and the United States held on for a narrow 86-80 victory over Argentina.
The Americans got off to a hot start, but their lead was down to four with 2:50 left after Manu Ginobili’s three-point play. But Durant and Chris Paul hit big 3-pointers as the U.S. won after being pushed for the second time in its four exhibition games.
Kobe Bryant added 18 points and LeBron James 15 for the U.S., which beat Brazil 80-69 in a similarly rugged game last week in Washington.
Ginobili scored 23 points to lead Argentina.
Back in Barcelona, where the Dream Team won gold 20 years earlier, the U.S. players wore that team’s throwback uniforms. The white uniforms had the letters “CD” in honor of coach Chuck Daly, the Dream Team coach who died in 2009.
Otherwise, the Americans are more interested in building for London than reflecting too much on the past. They play Spain on Tuesday.
WOMEN: Seimone Augustus and Diana Taurasi each scored 16 points to lead the U.S. women’s basketball team to an 80-61 victory over Turkey.
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