United States Kevin Durant, dunks during a friendly basketball game against Spain in Madrid on Sunday, Aug. 22, 2010. (AP Photo/Arturo Rodriguez).
Kevin Durant leads US to 86-85 win over Spain
By PAUL LOGOTHETIS (AP) – 23 minutes ago
MADRID — Kevin Durant scored 25 points and made two crucial late blocks to help the United States beat Spain 86-85 on Sunday in a warmup game for the world championship.
A decision to go to a zone defense for the last play caught Spain off-guard and Durant blocked shots by Ricky Rubio and Rudy Fernandez after Derrick Rose put the Americans ahead with two free throws.
"I just wanted to cover as much ground as I could and help my teammates," said Durant, who also had 10 rebounds. "I just didn't want to foul on a 3-pointer so I stayed down and, luckily, game over."
The United States rallied after Spain — 13 points behind after three quarters — took a one-point lead on Juan Carlos Navarro's three-point play with 27 seconds left.
Navarro scored 20 points in the first game between the teams since the Americans won the 2008 Olympic final. It was the first loss in nine games for Spain, the defending world champion. The world championship begin Saturday in Turkey.
Spain took the lead for the first time with 90 seconds to play. Rubio's stutter step into the lane drew attention and allowed the teen point guard to feed Felipe Reyes for an easy layup and an 82-80 lead.
But Durant answered before Rose got past Rubio and avoided Marc Gasol's block to score with a one-handed shot that put the U.S. up 84-82 with 33 seconds to play.
"We made one more play than they did and that's why we won," U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski said.
Rose finished with 13 points, and Lamar Odom had 12 points and nine rebounds for the U.S., while Rubio put on a strong performance with six assists. Marc Gasol had 17 points for Spain.
Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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U.S. basketball team downs Spain 86-85 in warm-up thriller
By Mark Elkington
Sun Aug 22, 2010 6:55pm EDT
MADRID (Reuters) - The United States survived a spirited comeback from world champions Spain to win 86-85 in thrilling a warm-up game on Sunday, sending out a warning to their rivals ahead of the world championships.
The Olympic gold medalists have set out for Turkey with a side shorn of big names such as LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade who starred in Beijing.
But the young replacements showed their mettle in a hostile Madrid against a more experienced side, who narrowly lost out on gold in China.
Guard Kevin Durant led the way with game-high 25 points and eight rebounds, closely supported by Derrick Rose and Lamar Odom who sank 13 and 12 points apiece.
Juan Carlos Navarro topped the scoring for the hosts with 20 points backed by Marc Gasol and Felipe Reyes who notched 17 and 16 each.
"It was a great game and a great crowd. Two excellent teams who played to their max," U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewsky told reporters.
"Fortunately we had one more play than them. I feel lucky to have won. We started with a different line up and that was really what we wanted tonight, to take a better look at our players."
Spain perhaps missed the influence of Los Angeles Lakers forward Pau Gasol, who was watching from the stands after ruling himself out of the trip to Turkey.
The MVP from the last world championships was sitting just behind the world's most expensive soccer player, Portugal and Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo in the packed arena.
AGGRESSIVE GAME
The U.S. labored past Lithuania 77-61 on Saturday, a side Spain swept aside 94-75 the day before, but they were much quicker into their game, aggressively closing down their hosts and preventing them from scoring until almost the five minute mark.
Durant and Rose spearheaded their charge to a 23-16 first period lead as Spain's passes were as wayward as their shooting, and the visitors extended the lead to 12 at the break.
Navarro took Spain to within two points at 55-53 midway through the third as the locals threatened a comeback, but Durant sank a breakaway at the end of the third to restore an 11-point advantage going into the final period.
Once again Spain came back though with Ricky Rubio and Navarro at the helm, the latter drawing them level at 80 apiece with two minutes to go.
But Rose held his nerve amidst a raucous local crowd to take the game from the free-throw line in the final seconds.
"This has been a great experience for us against one of the best teams in the world," game MVP Durrant told reporters.
"I'm pleased with my contribution... and the way the team stuck together."
The U.S. have one more tune-up game against Greece in Athens on Wednesday before the world championships get underway in Turkey on August 28.
(Writing by Mark Elkington; Editing by Dave Thompson)
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