Kevin Durant Leads US to 86-85 Win Over Spain

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.