LONDON (AP) — Kevin Durant’s shooting touch has the U.S. Olympic team closer to grabbing gold.
Afraid of alienating his teammates, Durant had been reluctant to take over games for the Americans. But after being urged by Kobe Bryant and LeBron James to be more assertive, Durant has become the leading scorer for the U.S., which faces Australia in Tuesday’s quarterfinals.
Durant scored 28 points — 17 in a torrid third quarter — when the U.S. pulled away and beat Argentina 126-97 on Monday night. He is shooting 61 percent (20 of 33) on 3-pointers, and when he launches a long-range shot, James says “there’s a 99 percent chance that it’s going in.”
Durant says Bryant recently advised him to “do what I do. Coming from one of the greatest players to ever play, I’ll take that.”
