By Aris Barkas / barkas@eurohoops.net
PARIS, France – During the game between Team USA and Brazil for the Olympic Games quarterfinals, Kevin Durant became the all-time leading scorer in USA Basketball’s Olympic history, passing Hall of Famer Lisa Leslie.
“Records are meant to be broken,” Durant said. He finished with 11 points as USA won 122 – 87. “So it’s going to come along.”
After getting to the Olympic Games semifinals, Durant and Team USA are getting ready for the match against Serbia that can push them to the gold medal game.
According to Durant, desire and determination will be key factors in the game.
“They’re just more familiar with us,” Durant said. “Understand how we’re coming up there. You understand them as well. So it’s going to be about who wants it more, you know what I’m saying? We’re going to watch the film, study tendencies and all that stuff. ”
USA and Serbia have faced each other twice this summer. The first time was during the USA Basketball Showcase in Abu Dhabi where Durant and his teammates won 105 – 79. It was kind of a preview of the Olympic Games opener between the two teams that ended with a 110 – 84 victory for the USA.
Durant made his summer debut in vs. Serbia scoring 23 points in 17 minutes. He knows the semifinal is going to be a different case. “At the end of the day, it’s about who wants it more,” he repeated.
Before the game vs. Brazil, Durant watched the previous quarterfinal, where France defeated Canada. He was impressed with the performance of Les Bleus.
“They played great basketball today,” Durant said. “They feed off the crowd. We’re getting some extra energy. They had a tough game against Germany [in the Group Stage]. They know it’s pretty bad against them early on. So we’ll see how that goes. But, you know, it’s a different game right now. It’s a different time. So I’m sure they’ll be ready to play.”