ts in raising his road batting average to .381, compared to .231

RIO DE JANEIRO -- It had the sound, from an omen perspective, of the flat-out wrong address. A booking gone bad.Housing all those famous faces from the NBA on a luxury cruise liner called The Silver Cloud?At the Olympics?You were moved to question the wisdom of that choice once or twice in the early stages Sunday, when stubborn Serbia managed to hang with mighty Team USA for a quarter at Carioca Arena 1. You couldnt help but think: Imagine the storms and ridicule that would greet the Americans if they only managed to bring silver home from these Rio Games.And then Kevin Durant, turning ruthless in the last game well see him play before he starts his new under-the-microscope life with the increasingly villainous Golden State Warriors, staged a hostile international takeover to make you laugh at yourself for wasting any brain cells on the idea.There would be no storms, or lasting fears of silver, on this afternoon. The Americans ultimately rolled in a 96-66 rout, with Durant erupting for 24 of his 30 points by halftime -- 15 of them in the second quarter -- to turn an edgy 19-15 game after a period into a 23-point laugher at the break.Five mostly d-e-e-p 3s from Durant in the first half, with a couple of memorable dunks thrown in, put KD on a path to match his 30 points from the gold-medal game in London 2012, essentially clinched a record third gold medal for teammate Carmelo Anthony before the second half and ensured that Mike Krzyzewski would bid farewell to the international game with a 76-game winning streak to take back to Duke.Best of all, Durant made the Americans final hours on Brazilian soil their most comfortable of the whole trip.What followed after the break was a predictable in-game party for the Americans, with Durant eventually serving as head cheerleader at the end thanks to a lead that stretched as high as 41 points, all of which banished the memories of those nervy three single-digit victories in their first seven games here.We were pissed going into the locker room, Durant said the other day, reflecting on Serbias near upset of the tournaments overwhelming favorites in group play on Aug. 12. Not because we wanted to blow every team out. Just because we didnt play well at all.But now Im just like, Hey, man, if we lose this game, we lose it. If we win it, then great, we move on. That helps me. It may not help other players, but it helps me. Ive just embraced who I am as a basketball player.He truly couldnt have looked more comfortable in his last act on the Rio stage. A summer that began with U.S. players loathing the Molten brown-and-white ball used in international play and struggling to adjust to the slightly shorter 3-point line came to a close with Durant routinely squaring up from far beyond NBA range and hitting triple after triple.This one changed completely once Krzyzewski put reserves Paul George, Kyle Lowry, Jimmy Butler and DeMarcus Cousins around Durant. The Serbs couldnt cope with their length and athleticism and pressure on the ball, then watched helplessly as Durant sailed in for a slam and a 45-25 cushion when multiple defenders rushed out to try to crowd him on the perimeter.Making 3s was the Serbs only realistic shot of hanging in?, but they were hounded into fatal 4-for-24 shooting from deep. Any remaining hope was snuffed out by Team USAs crushing 54-33 edge on the boards.As Durant said after the Yanks semifinal win over Spain: Weve got two lineups -- guys who can just score and we got energy lineups -- and we mix them together pretty well.Team Energy doomed the runners-up this time, with Cousins (11 of his 13 points in the first half) causing plenty of trouble himself while his Serbian boss -- Sacramento Kings general manager Vlade Divac -- watched helplessly himself from the stands.Anthony was scoreless in the first half and managed just seven points in the finale, but it never mattered. The rout was on and allowed Team USA to fly home Sunday night with a passable average victory margin of 22.5 for the tournament after its struggles in pool play.We never said we was gonna run through everybody, Anthony told ESPN earlier in the tournament. We never said that we was gonna win every game by 30 or 40. The games that we do, we do. The games that we dont, we dont.Serbia, truth be told, was surely fearful that it would fall in the do category of routs, since many international teams quietly subscribe to the theory that, in tournaments such as these, youre only going to get one real shot to beat the Americans. No matter who they bring.Its why there were certifiable murmurs that Australia, after such a great start in Group A, was legitimately weighing the prospect of playing its NBAers limited minutes in the second half of its Aug. 10 encounter with Team USA, believing that it might be better to save its supposed best for a potential rematch in the medal round.Turns out that the Aussies never got that second chance after getting unexpectedly smoked by Serbia in the semis, while the Serbs went on to validate the one-shot-only theory by steadily fading away once Durant got hot, turning this into a virtual rerun of the 2014 FIBA World Cup final in Spain that Team USA won by 37.How will this incarnation of the U.S. national team be remembered? Too soon to say.Yet it was clear on the U.S. bench at the end, amid a hearty round of hugs for Anthony once the expected medal shade of gold began to sink in, that Krzyzewski was as fond of this group as any of the squads that preceded it.Its been the ultimate honor of my life in coaching, Coach K said this week, and Ive coached for 41 years. Ron Hextall Jersey . "Were just throwing s--- at the wall hoping something sticks," said Tortorella about the possible line combinations for Fridays game against Columbus. The Canucks have lost five straight games and six of their last seven, leaving them in a logjam in the Pacific Division, currently sitting fifth - good for ninth in the Western Conference. Shayne Gostisbehere Jersey . -- Aldon Smith believes he is on the path to being sober for good. http://www.hockeyflyersauthentic.com/claude-giroux-jersey/ . The lawyers filed a 33-page amended complaint Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan, expanding on the suit originally filed Oct. 3 in New York Supreme Court. Arbitrator Fredric Horowitz last week refused to compel Selig to testify in the grievance, and Rodriguez then walked out of the hearing without testifying. Ivan Provorov Flyers Jersey . Marincin has played in two NHL games so far this season with two penalty minutes. The 21-year-old has three goals, four assists and a plus-5 rating in 24 games with the American Hockey Leagues Oklahoma City Barons this season. Robert Hagg Flyers Jersey . Jane Virtanen scored two, and Alex Roach and Elliott Peterson rounded out the offence for the Hitmen (40-15-6). Brady Brassart chipped in with three assists. Colton McCarthy scored twice, Brayden Point had a goal and two assists, and Jack Rodewald also scored for the Warriors (15-35-9), who were 2 for 5 on the power play. We heard a few catcalls last week (pun intended) after elevating the Villanova to the No. 1 overall seed in Bracketology. A week later, no one is questioning the Wildcats after two more convincing Philadelphia Big 5 victories -- thats a record 17 straight in the City Series -- plus a loss by their namesakes at Kentucky.Its no longer just Philadelphia or the Big East chasing Villanova, its the entire college basketball worlld.dddddddddddd. Dont believe me? The numbers are both plain and staggering.Since the last major conference realignment before the 2013-14 season, including, most notably, the breakup of the old Big East, Villanova is the winningest team in America. Period. And there really isnt a close second. ' ' '