With Durant on His Game, U.S. Storms Into Olympic Semifinals

“In this setting, it’s always hard to get your footing as an individual player because you don’t want to step on toes, you’re coming in and out of the game, you’re not playing as many minutes, getting as many shots,” Durant said. “But I love how we’ve stuck with it through this whole period of time, and guys are starting to figure out what to do.”

The Spanish, bigger and better drilled, used their size as an advantage whenever they could. They won the rebounding battle, 42-32, and cashed in on several second-chance opportunities around the basket.

Ricky Rubio was their main instigator on offense, leading all scorers with 38 points.

Asked about the importance of Durant, U.S. Coach Gregg Popovich drew a comparison to Rubio’s role in the Spanish team.

“They’re both great players, and they’re both hard to stop,” Popovich said, before adding about Durant: “In these games, every team has people like that, that they depend on to come through, and he certainly did.”

A gold medal run would put an exclamation mark on a long season for Durant, who missed the entire 2019-2020 N.B.A. season after tearing his right Achilles’ tendon. He returned to the Nets this season and averaged 34.2 points during their 12-game postseason run.

“Kevin is a rhythm player, and figuring out the rhythm and flow is important,” Green said. “We’ve got that figured out now, and we allowed him to do what he’s great at, and he was great.”

The absence from the United States team (and the Olympic tournament) of some of the game’s biggest stars — LeBron James, Stephen Curry, James Harden — has sharpened the spotlight on Durant. But he seems to be taking it in stride, asserting his identity in increasingly significant ways, even as he seemed to take little pleasure on Tuesday in advancing to the semifinals.

“We’re supposed to be here,” Durant said. “For us it’s about getting a gold.”