Kevin Durant added 11 points for Team USA in their 122-87 Olympic quarterfinal victory over Brazil on Tuesday. With it, Durant overtook legend Lisa Leslie for the most points in American Olympic history. Durant, who had entered the game five points behind Leslie, now has 494 points in the Olympics, which is the most for any American.
However, the veteran is focused on winning the Olympic gold medal for his country and said the personal milestone takes a backseat for him. The USA is looking for a fifth consecutive Olympic Gold medal at the ongoing games.
“Records are meant to be broken, so somebody will come along and do the same to me,” Durant said. “My focus is on trying to win this gold.”
Meanwhile, Joel Embiid has been booed by the French crowd after he refused to represent the home team at the Olympics.
“Oh no, they still might find a way [to fine me], but that felt good,” Embiid said with a smile. “It’s good to have fun too, because at the end of the day, you got to take something out of this experience.”
On the other hand, LeBron James was once again at his best, providing a no-look assist to Jayson Tatum.
“We had a play, but he just looked at me, so I knew he was doing the backdoor,” Tatum said. “That was a hell of a pass. He put it right on the money, so he made it easy for me.”
LeBron James scored nine assists in just 12 minutes to go with 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting before he had to leave the court after Brazil’s Georginho De Paula caught him above the left eye, forcing four stitches. James didn’t return to action but he won’t miss the semifinal clash.
“For a guy who truly is a point forward at heart, for him to be the leading scorer in NBA history when that’s kind of the secondary thing that he does, he’s crazy,” Team USA coach Steve Kerr said. “But that’s LeBron.”
USA will take on Serbia in the semifinal on Thursday.
