Durant Sets Olympic Record, Leads Team USA To Gold

Kevin Durant poured in 30 to help Team USA get past pesky Spain.<br />

Sunday, August 12th 2012, 5:59 pm

By: News 9


Dream on. 

Team USA got a championship-caliber challenge from Spain Sunday, but survived the Spaniard's test 107-100, taking home the gold medal for the second consecutive Olympics.

Trailing by one at the end of the third quarter, Spain could smell the upset, but the United States had a date with destiny.  Kevin Durant scored 12 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter, making sure Team USA got what it came for. 

"We came through from the beginning of July and worked hard for one goal and I'm glad I accomplished it," Durant said.

Durant not only led the Americans to the gold medal, he did it in historic fashion.  His 156 total points set a new record for most points scored in an Olympics and his 30 3-pointers set a new American record for most 3's hit in a single Olympics.

"We all know it was one common goal, to win for our country," Durant said.  "So we put everything else aside and came out here and played as a group. We got a great gold medal coming back home."

Coach Mike Krzyzewski shortened his rotation for this game, with only five players seeing over 20 minutes of playing time, and another five playing only single-digit minutes. 

LeBron James scored 19 for Team USA, while Kobe Bryant added 17 and Chris Paul chipped in 11. 

Spain got heavy contributions from the usual suspects, with NBA All-Star brothers Pau and Marc Gasol combining for 41 points, Rudy Fernandez scoring 14 and Durant's Thunder teammate Serge Ibaka adding 12.  Spain also got a very impressive performance from former Memphis Grizzly Juan Carlos Navarro, who poured in 21 points including four 3-pointers. 

Durant's other Thunder teammates were quiet in this one, with Russell Westbrook and James Harden combining for 10 minutes and five points. 

When the Thunder takes the floor next season, it will sport a starting lineup of three gold-medalists and one silver medalist, by far the most in the NBA.  OKC opens up the season on November 1 in San Antonio, a rematch of the Western Conference Finals. 

 

Information from the AP was used in this article.

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