Madrid, Spain – It was supposed to be an exhibition game to prep both teams for the coming World Basketball Championships, but as expected, the intensity and overall play was anything but for the rematch between Spain and the USA.

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With the United States up one, Kevin Durant came up big on defense, an aspect of his game that is underrated because of his graceful ease in putting the ball in the basket.

Spain wasn’t able to get a decent shot at the basket with Kevin Durant all over Ricky Rubio, blocking the young point guard’s shot at the basket. Rudy Fernandez came up with Rubio’s airball, and his three-point attempt at the buzzer was also blocked by Durant.

In addition to game-saving blocks, Durant scored 25 points and pulled in 10 rebounds.

The U.S. was coming off a subpar performance against Lithuania where the young team USA shot terribly from the field. That wasn’t the case today as the U.S. took a 16-3 lead after converting 7 of their first 10 shots from the field while Spain struggled from the field; hitting just one of their first ten shots.

Spain, as expected, fought back over the next three quarters behind Juan Carlos Navarro, Marc Gasol, and Ricky Rubio. Behind those three, Spain overcame an eleven point deficit going into the fourth quarter.

Navarro, the former NBA player for the Memphis Grizzlies, led Spain with 20 points. The crafty guard gave Spain a lead with 27 second remaining in the game on a three-point play. Derrick Rose contributed the final four points for team USA and finished with 13 points.

CBS Sports offered a very astute observation: After Spain took its first lead of the game 82-80 with about two minutes remaining, the U.S. immediately went to Durant who hit a tough baseline runner to knot the score again. It may have been only an exhibition, but these were some defining moments for Team USA, as this young group begins to find some identity and understand roles.

The United States has one more warm-up game, vs. Greece before playing Croatia in their first game. Spain will match up against France when the World Championships of Basketball commence Saturday, August 28th in various cities in Turkey.