Jeff Zillgitt

USA TODAY Sports

RIO DE JANEIRO — Kevin Durant leads the U.S. men's basketball team in scoring. He’s shooting 60% from the field and 61% on three-pointers.

It’s not like he’s been missing in action.

And yet, he hasn’t been dominant either.

“Sometimes, when you’re in a new environment, you have to figure out where your thing is. It’s called getting accustomed to your teammates. I think he is,” U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “He had a really good practice (Tuesday). We obviously need him to be the Kevin Durant of Istanbul and London. We’re hoping the medal round brings that out.”

That’s what missing. The Durant who averaged 22.8 points at the 2010 FIBA World Cup in Istanbul and the Durant who averaged 19.5 points at the 2012 London Olympics, setting the U.S men’s scoring record with 156 points in one Olympics.

Men's Olympic basketball tournament quarterfinals set

The USA opens the knockout round against Argentina in the quarterfinals Wednesday (5:45 p.m. ET), and Durant’s offense will be necessary from this point on.

Durant’s numbers in Rio look good. He’s averaging 16.8 points and has is 11-for-18 on three-pointers.

He started the competition with 25 points against China and 16 against Venezuela, and it looked like he might challenge his 2012 scoring record. Against Australia — his worst shooting game of the tournament — he made 4-for-16 shots and then took just 10 shots in the final two games of group play, including four against Serbia.

Durant needs more than four shots.

Following the final game of group play against France, in which Durant took six shots and made all six, he talked about being more efficient and picking his spots.

“For me here, it’s just about being patient,” Durant said following Tuesday’s practice. “We’ve got great scorers. When I get my shots, it’s about being patient and knocking them down. At the same time, don’t just shoot to shoot. I talk about sacrifice here a lot.”

That’s admirable, but being a tad more selfish could help the team. As Krzyzewski said, Durant is trying to find his spots with players he hasn’t played alongside at an international tournament. There are plenty of other scorers, such as Carmelo Anthony, Kyrie Irving, Paul George, Klay Thompson and Kyle Lowry.

“There’s been games where we know who the hot hand is, and we get it to them,” George said. “When we’re going through a dry spell, then you have everyone trying to take over. We’re still trying to find that (balance). How do we be ourselves offensively and be aggressive as a scorer while keeping everybody in rhythm? That’s the toughest part.”

George said they aren’t concerned about shot totals. They’re not checking the box score to see how many attempts a teammate did or didn’t have.

Durant’s philosophy in Rio might provide insight into how he might play with his new team in the NBA, the Golden State Warriors. For the Warriors, he won’t need to score as much. The starting five is almost an All-Star team with Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Durant.

“As the years go on, I’m starting to think the game a little bit more,” Durant said. “How to be a better leader and how to make my teammates better out of just being tunnel vision and ‘Alight, I’ve got be aggressive every time I get it to score.’ I’m finding a balance. It’s a good place to be.

“It’s a learning period. It takes a while to figure that sweet spot out. I’m still learning. I go times where I shoot too much, sometimes where I’m not aggressive enough.”

BEST IMAGES FROM AUG. 16 AT THE OLYMPICS