13 Sep 2010

USA win basketball world champs for first time since 1994

10:56 am on 13 September 2010

It has taken 16 long years, but the United States have finally reclaimed their title as the world champions of international basketball.

Rising superstar Kevin Durant led the way with 28 points as the Americans outclassed host'sTurkey 81-64 in the gold medal match to cap an undefeated campaign under coach Mike Krzyzewski.

The US arrived in Istanbul minus LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and the entire team that won gold at the Beijing Olympics and with question marks over their undersized line-up.

But they believed sheer talent would carry them through and that proved the case in their first world championship triumph since a young Shaquille O'Neal led the Dream Team to gold in 1994.