Texas Basketball-ex Kevin Durant continues to carry Team USA

For a while, it looked like former Texas basketball star Kevin Durant and the United States were going to be in trouble in the semifinal matchup for this team in the knockout stages against Australia late in the night of Aug. 4 and early in the morning of Aug. 5. Team USA has struggled throughout much of the pre-Olympic exhibition circuit and through the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, in the past month or so.

KD really took his game to a new level since the end of pool play in the Olympics. Team USA is largely driven by the all-around efforts of the Brooklyn Nets superstar forward KD at the moment. In this meeting with Australia, KD had a 20 point effort for the third game in a row. He was the leading scorer for the United States in this latest outing for Team USA.

This matchup with Australia did not get off on the right foot for the United States. Australia had a three-point lead at halftime after a slow start for Team USA, and KD. But the third quarter saw this trend completely turnaround.

Team USA outscored Australia 32-10 in the third quarter to basically lock in this victory. KD scored a good portion of his 23 points in this game in the third quarter. In total, he tallied up a game-high in both points (23) and rebounds (nine). KD also registered two assists, two steals, one block, and no turnovers.

Former Texas basketball star Kevin Durant a driving force for Team USA again in this win over Australia

And he shot 10-of-19 from the field, 1-of-7 from beyond the arc, and a perfect 2-of-2 from the free-throw line.

The biggest knock for KD’s game in this 97-78 win over Australia was the fact that he had only 23 points on 19 field goal attempts, and didn’t shoot well at all from downtown.

Other solid contributions from the United States’ starting five were delivered from Milwaukee Bucks guard Jrue Holiday and Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker. Holiday registered 11 points, eight rebounds, eight assists, one steal, and one block. Meanwhile, Booker gave Team USA 20 points, three rebounds, one assist, one steal, and one block.

KD and the United States will now take on France for a rematch from the first game of pool play in the Gold Medal game. France took down the United States, handing this team the only loss since the start of the actual Olympic Games. To get to this point, France took down superstar point guard Luka Doncic and Slovenia in the semifinals, by a slim one-point margin.

The Gold Medal game between France and the United States is set to take place on Aug. 7. Slovenia will also face Australia to decide who gets the bronze medal on the same day.