Kevin Durant regained his lost dribble, eyed up his defender and pulled up to drain the 3-pointer that gave him a place atop the greats.
The Nets star became the all-time leading scorer for the United States men’s basketball team in Olympic play Saturday in Saitama, Japan, during a 119-84 victory over Czech Republic. The win clinched a spot in the eight-team knockout round at the Tokyo Games. It was a nice milestone in a career of many highlights, but Durant’s 3 was more important on an immediate level.
You never would guess it by the final score, but Team USA trailed for the first 13 minutes of action and looked headed for more trouble before Durant surpassed Carmelo Anthony and put his team in front for the first time, 34-33, all on one shot. The U.S. lost twice during exhibition play and then lost to France in its opener in Tokyo, marking its first defeat in the Olympics since in 2004.
“I think our guys really focused well and did a good job in gaining ground, day by day and practice by practice,” head coach Gregg Popovich said. “Hopefully, we’ll continue that moving forward. We have to if we want to be successful.”
Playing among NBA All-Stars, Durant, who has scored 353 points as a three-time Olympian, looked like the best player in the world when it was needed. He collected 23 points (on 8-for-11 shooting), eight rebounds and six assists.
“I’ve had a lot asked of me every team I’ve been on since I was 8 years old,” Durant told reporters. “It’s no different here.”
The U.S. trailed by as many 10 points and by seven at the end of the first quarter against a Czech team with one active NBA player on the roster — Bulls backup guard Tomas Satoransky. The comeback began when Durant, Zach Lavine and Damian Lillard found their outside touches and Draymond Green scored five points in a flurry, resulting in a 47-43 halftime lead.
Eight different players connected on 3s as part of a 47.6-percent shooting performance from behind the arc (20-for-42).
“Looked easy, didn’t it? Looked easy,” guard Jrue Holiday said of the Durant-led performance. “It’s fun to watch. Fun to be a part of.”
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A 7-0 spurt early in the third gave the U.S. its first double-digit lead, 57-47, and the game turned to a blowout on a 16-2 run to end the quarter. The Americans’ hot hands continued well into the fourth quarter, with the U.S. making a mind-boggling 21 of its first 25 shots from the floor in the second half. The 7-for-20 shooting start was a distant memory by then.
After a slow start to his Olympics, Jayson Tatum scored 17 fourth-quarter points and finished with 27. Lavine (13), Holiday (11) and JaVale McGee (10) all scored in double figures as Durant sat on the bench for the final 10 minutes.
“You think about all the players that played in this [USA] program,” Durant said of his scoring record. “Pretty cool to be amongst names like that. Carmelo is a guy that I played on two Olympic teams with. I’ve seen his approach to these games, and I’ve tried to steal some of his techniques.”
The U.S. finished second in Group A and will join France, Australia and either Spain or Slovenia as the top four seeds in Tuesday’s quarterfinals. The matchups will be drawn at random once the four lower seeds are finalized, but the U.S. is assured of avoiding one of the three group winners.
Blake Schlib led the Czechs with 17 points, followed by Jan Vesely — a former NBA draft lottery pick — with 13 and Satoransky with 12 and eight assists. Patrik Auda, who played 90 games at Seton Hall from 2010-14, added six.