As LeBron James listened to the national anthem before his first Olympic game in 12 years, he was filled with apprehension, butterflies, and possibly even angst.

Everything went away immediately.

James and Kevin Durant, the two most experienced Olympians on this American team, opened the Paris Games and the United States’ campaign for a fifth straight gold medal with a near-perfect performance. Durant made his first eight shots and scored 23 points, James added 21 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists, and the United States defeated Serbia 110-84 in both teams’ Olympic opener on Sunday.

“That’s the best game we’ve played so far,” James said after the Americans advanced to 6-0 this summer, including a 1-0 record in the tournament that matters.

James and Durant shot a combined 18 for 22 from the field — Durant 8 of 9, James 9 of 13 — as the United States easily defeated the reigning World Cup silver medallists from last summer in the Philippines. Jrue Holiday led the way with 15 points, Devin Booker had 12, and Anthony Edwards and Stephen Curry each had 11.

The United States improved to 144-6 overall in Olympic competition, including 56-0 while scoring more than 100 points. The Americans prevailed despite the fact that Jayson Tatum of the NBA champion Boston Celtics — who recently committed to the highest contract in NBA history — was not in the rotation, which even US coach Steve Kerr thought was foolish when he decided to do so.

“I went with the combinations that I felt like would make sense,” Mr. Kerr said. “I spoke with him, and he’s really professional. That’s it for tonight. That does not mean it will remain that way for the duration of the competition. He will make his mark. Our players understand that the key to this entire situation is to put all of the NBA drama behind them and simply win six games. Jayson is the ultimate professional, a champion; he handled it well and will be prepared for the next one.”

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Nikola Jokic, a three-time NBA MVP, scored 20 points for Serbia, while Bogdan Bogdanovic added 14. Serbia was outscored 54-27 from the three-point line — a major weakness for the Americans in the pre-tournament games, but a strength on Sunday — and allowed the Americans to shoot 62% while being kept to 42% from the field.

With Jokic on the court for 31 minutes, the teams were equal. When Jokic was not on the floor, the United States outscored Serbia by 26 points. The final margin was 26 points.

“They got the best player in the world,” Edwards explained.

Both sides return to action on Wednesday, with the United States facing upstart South Sudan in a rematch of the Americans’ 101-100 escape victory in a London exhibition earlier this month, and Serbia facing Puerto Rico in what might essentially be an elimination game for both teams.

Serbia led 10–2 over the United States early. The final score was 108 for the United States and 74 for Serbia.

“We knew they were going to come out and play hard,” Booker told the crowd. “They did the same thing while we were in Abu Dhabi. They have a lot of talented guys there. “We did not underestimate them.”

Before the tournament began, Serbia coach Svetislav Pesic, who coached against the 1992 Olympic “Dream Team” from the United States, stated this version of the American squad was even better than the first NBA-star-studded group that wowed the globe in Barcelona. When reminded about the comment a few weeks ago, Kerr brushed it off.

“When Chuck Daly coached the Dream Team, he never called timeout,” Kerr recalled.

Kerr made a call in just 2 minutes and 41 seconds at these Olympics. Serbia rushed out to an eight-point advantage, putting the Americans in a fast hole. After the first pause, Kerr replaced Joel Embiid with Anthony Davis, and things changed quickly; a three-point play by James midway through the first gave the United States its first lead, and a lob from James to Edwards put the Americans up 25-20 after one.