Phoenix Suns stars shine when Team USA needed them most

PHOENIX — Team USA escaped a major scare against Serbia in the semifinals of the Olympic basketball tournament today, surviving the upset and earning a 95-91 victory. Make no mistake, Stephen Curry was the catalyst for the win, but Phoenix Suns star duo Devin Booker and Kevin Durant were also instrumental in the victory.

Booker had one of the more modest statistical outputs among key contributors for USA Today, but he played the entire fourth quarter of what turned out to be a 32-15 win.

Booker has now extended his team-best +/- to +112 in the 10 exhibition/Olympic games that have been played, and continues to be the unsung star of this team.

Staying in the rotation with four former MVPs is evidence of how highly valued the Suns star is, and he more than repaid it by playing tough defense and hitting key 3-pointers to continue pushing Team USA forward.

Durant, the all-time leading scorer in Olympic history, started the game 1 for 6 before finishing 4 for 8 and scoring what ended up being the dagger with less than 30 seconds left in the game.

Durant remains one of the quintessential players who can take control of any game on a whim. He didn’t let his slow start affect his finish. He didn’t force things. He stepped up when it was needed most.

As for his teammate, the confidence placed in Booker likely points to him once again having a major role and plenty of playing time in the gold medal match against host country France.

Booker could be on track to presumably claim as many as four gold medals by the end of Saturday, while Durant could have acquired number four.

The fact that both stars are among Team USA’s best and most impactful players should bode well for the future, as both look rejuvenated and reinvented after a difficult 2023-24 campaign.

The bottom line is that if Durant and Booker continue this streak into next season for the Suns, we could be in for much better luck in 2024-25.