Team USA Soars as Kevin Durant Scores

ISTANBUL -- The NBA scoring champion was acting as if he wanted to be an assists leader.

But that's not Kevin Durant's game. So after a practice 2 ½ weeks ago during a training camp in New York, Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski pulled over his star forward.

"In practice, I was passing too much, passing up open shots and trying to find an open man,'' Durant recalled. "Coach pulled me to the side and just told me to be who I am, score the basketball. That's one of my greatest attributes, as a scorer, and he just told me to go out there and play like I play in Oklahoma City. Be aggressive and also find the open man as well.''

That's exactly what Durant has been doing for Team USA in the World Championship. On Sunday, he scored 22 points in 23 minutes and also found time to hand out four assists as the Americans rolled over Slovenia 99-77 at Abdi Ipekci Arena to raise their Group B record to 2-0.

Durant, who averaged an NBA-best 30.1 points for the Thunder last season, isn't your typical NBA gunner. In fact, he admitted he was worried he would be labeled a ball hog if he put up too many shots after putting on his red, white and blue uniform.

"I didn't want to be that guy that comes in and everybody doesn't like playing with him,'' said Durant, whose Americans likely will win Group B if they beat Brazil, their only serious group challenger, Monday. "My teammates said they were very cool in letting me know that we're going to feed off your offense, and go ahead and play my game.''

Imagine a teammate having a problem with the Durant. In three seasons, his modest attitude has made him one of the most liked players in the NBA.

The 6-foot-9 Durant has a unique ability to score, one that was on display early Sunday when he scored 15 points in the first half. With Team USA having taken a big lead, he wasn't even needed to play in the fourth quarter.

"It's unbelievable,'' Team USA big man Kevin Love, who had an impressive outing off the bench with 10 points and 11 rebounds, said of what Durant's scoring brings to the team. "He really plays like he's 7-foot-1 because of his wing span. Every shot (Durant takes is) uncontested ... He can take over a game at any moment. That's a luxury to have.''

It sure was Sunday when Durant averaged nearly a point a minute. He had seven games last season for the Thunder in which he scored as many or more points than minutes played.

For now, the Americans are pacing Durant. Assistant coach Jim Boeheim thought it was no big deal that he went to the bench after just five minutes in the first quarter and neither did Durant.

"He's not having to play big minutes right now,'' Boeheim said of Durant, who had 14 points in 21 minutes in Saturday's opening 106-78 win over Croatia. "But, if he had to, he could play big minutes. If we can hold him to around 20 something a game for a while. Kevin is one of those guys who could play 30 easily. He could probably play 35. He's in shape and he loves to play.''

He's also learning to love to play defense. And Boeheim doesn't mince words when it comes to that side of the ball.

"He's getting better defensively,'' Boeheim said of Durant, who had four steals. "He's doing a great job defensively.''

Then again, so is the entire team. Boeheim said Team USA's defense has been "surprising'' and "better than most people'' would have thought. He called it on par with the 2008 Olympic gold-winning outfit, although he said the offense of the team, which had 17 turnovers Sunday, is still "making some errors and mistakes.''

After taking a big early lead, the Americans had some sloppy periods. They watched Slovania go on a 17-10 run after falling behind 18-6 and watched them go on a 11-2 run in the second half to chop a huge deficit down to 63-46.

After that spurt, Team USA forward Rudy Gay, who had 11 of his 16 points in the second half, took over. Durant, after all, had been ruled done for the night.

But not before Durant shot 8-of-13 from the field, including 2-of-4 from three-point range, and 4-of-4 from the foul line. With numbers like that, it's no wonder American coaches want Durant to keep firing away.

"He's a scorer,'' Boeheim said. "That's what he does. I think once he knew we needed him to score, and that's his game. That's what he does ... But he's playing both ends of the court, and some of his offense is leading to offense, too. He's the key.''

In other words, the coaches expect Durant to lead the Americans in scoring. If he also wants to lead them in steals, they won't have a problem with that.

Chris Tomasson can be reached at tomasson@fanhouse.com or on Twitter@christomasson