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Kevin Durant withdrew Thursday from the U.S. national team, the biggest loss yet for a weakening American squad that will go to Spain without the leading scorer on its last two gold medal winners. The NBAs MVP took part in the Americans training camp in Las Vegas last week, but then informed team officials that he wasnt going to continue. "Kevin reached out to Coach K and myself this afternoon and expressed that he is just physically and mentally drained from the NBA season and his attention to his many responsibilities, USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo said in a statement. "He tried to give it a go at our recent Las Vegas training camp but felt coming out of camp that he was not prepared to fulfil the commitment he made to the team." Durant was the MVP of the world championship in 2010, leading the Americans to that title for the first time since 1994. The Oklahoma City star also started on their gold medal-winning team in the 2012 Olympics and led the Americans with 19.5 points per game. His withdrawal comes less than a week after Indianas Paul George was lost to a broken right leg and follows previous withdrawals by All-Stars Kevin Love, Blake Griffin and LaMarcus Aldridge, and NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard. "This was an extremely difficult decision as I take great pride in representing our country," Durant said. "I know that I owe it to my USA Basketball teammates to be totally invested in the experience. After going through training camp with USAB, I realized I could not fulfil my responsibilities to the team from both a time and energy standpoint. "I need to take a step back and take some time away, both mentally and physically in order to prepare for the upcoming NBA season. I will be rooting for USAB and look forward to future opportunities with them." The U.S. roster is down to 15 players. The Americans resume practicing next Thursday in Chicago and have to finalize a 12-man roster before the World Cup of Basketball begins in Spain on Aug. 30. The Americans may still be the favourites, but are increasingly beatable with the losses of Durant and George, who were expected to fill the two starting forward spots. Durant carried a young U.S. to the title four years ago in Turkey with a series of sensational performances, averaging 22.8 points and shattering a number of team offensive records. He set the American mark with 38 points in a semifinal victory over Lithuania. At 6-foot-10, Durant is big enough to play as a power forward internationally, creating a matchup nightmare for opponents who cant defend him on the perimeter. He led the tournament in 3-pointers attempted and made in the 2010 worlds. He has averaged 19.9 points in 31 games in a U.S. jersey, shooting 48 per cent from 3-point range. But Colangelo said the Americans understood his need for time off. "Coach K and I fully support Kevin," he said. "His well-being is the most important thing to us and we support him taking the time to get ready for next season. Hes been part of the national team program for eight years and a big part of the success we have achieved, and we look forward to him being part of our success in the future as well. "We are excited about the opportunity ahead of us and to getting back to work in Chicago on Aug. 14," Colangelo added. "All 15 players are committed to the USA Basketball standard, which is to come together to win gold medals." NMD R1 Mens Australia .com) - Darius Carter and Ron Baker scored 18 points apiece to help 13th-ranked Wichita State beat Evansville 61-41 on Saturday. Ultra Boost Australia Sale .com) - The Pittsburgh Penguins will try to complete a sweep of the Washington Capitals when the clubs cap a quick home-and-home series Tuesday night in the Steel City. http://www.nmdaustraliasale.com/nmd-r1-shoes-australia.html . Still, Inter moved one point ahead of Parma in the race for fifth place and the final Europa League spot. Udinese remained 14th, 11 points above the relegation zone. Inter was beaten 2-1 by Atalanta at home on Sunday and has won only seven of 16 matches at the San Siro this season, as the squad seems to still be searching for its identity under new owner Erick Thohir and first-year manager Walter Mazzarri. NMD XR1 Australia . On Saturday, the paths of Drew Tate and Kevin Glenn cross again as opposing quarterbacks. Cheap NMDs Australia . LOUIS -- To stay a step ahead of goaltenders, T.CALGARY -- Goals by David Krejci and Reilly Smith in a 98-second span erased two bad periods of hockey by the Boston Bruins. Krejci and Smith scored in the third period on Tuesday as the Bruins rallied for a 2-1 win over the Calgary Flames. "It was a really tough first two periods," said Smith, who is now tied with Krejci and Milan Lucic for the team lead with three game-winning goals each. "Theres no excuse for that. We didnt have enough emotion, didnt have enough jump. "We made it way too easy on them. We didnt have enough hits. We werent turning pucks over. There were too many things going wrong to have a good solid start to the game." After the Bruins (21-8-2) were outshot 22-9 through two periods, Smith said the players got a stern talking to from the Boston coaching staff during the intermission. "The coaches came in and I think they did a good job trying to turn the momentum," Smith said. "We kept things a little simpler, got pucks behind their D and started playing back to Bruins hockey. The first two periods everything was going the wrong way, so it was good to see it turn around in just a couple minutes and be able to change the night around." Shortly after Krejci scored a power-play goal at 13:49 of the third, Smith skated down the left wing, cut around Calgary defenceman T.J. Brodie and roofed a shot into the top corner over the outstretched glove of goalie Reto Berra. "I tried to go hard to the net and I saw a stick come, so I tried to slip it under and just get a quick shot and it was lucky enough to find a hole," Smith said. Boston coach Claude Julien definitely wasnt pleased with his teams play during the first two periods after which the Flames held a 1-0 lead. "Those first two periods were really tough to watch," Julien said. "We just couldnt get anything going. Our true colours came out in the third. Somehow weve got to get our team to play three periods that way and stop pushing our luck here." The Bruins have now won three straight games. After skating to a 3-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins at home on Saturday, the Bruins started their four-game road trip in Toronto on Sunday with a 5-2 victory over the Maple Leafs. Jiri Hudler scored the lone goal for the Flames (11-15-4), who had won three of four heading into the contest. "Thats a bad way to lose," said Calgary captain Mark Giordano. "We had thee game under control.dddddddddddd We played a great game for two periods and it seemed like in the third, we were afraid to make plays and (were) giving them the puck pretty much all the time and it cant be like that. "Teams like that, theyre going to win. Theres a reason they are who they are. We opened the door a bit and they took advantage." Boston goalie Tuukka Rask finished with 26 saves to improve his record to 16-7-2. Berra meanwhile stopped 22 shots. Tuesdays game marked the return of former Flames captain Jarome Iginla to the Scotiabank Saddledome for the first time since he was traded last March 27 to the Pittsburgh Penguins for a first-round draft pick and a pair of college forwards. After playing in 13 regular season games and 15 post-season contests with the Penguins, Iginla signed on as a free agent with the Bruins in the off-season. The Flames carried the majority of the play in the opening frame when they outshot the Bruins 11-5. Iginla had two of Bostons shots and also whistled a one-timer wide of the net during an early man advantage for the Bruins. Hudler finally broke the scoreless deadlock at 5:17 of the second period when he snuck a snap shot from the top of the faceoff circle under Rasks glove and into the net. Mike Cammalleri nearly put the Flames up 2-0 a short time later but his shot from the slot rang off the right post behind Rask. After recording just four shots on net in the second period, the Bruins took the play to the Flames in the third as they outshot them 15-6. "It seems like we just go into a shell and get away from what got us the lead in the first place," said Calgary forward Lee Stempniak. "We just chip pucks out and were on our heels and we lack that aggressiveness that we had at the start." Krejci tied up the game at 1-1 at 13:49 of the third when he tipped a point shot fired by Torey Krug past Berra. Notes: Iginlas last game at Saddledome as a member of the Flames was on March 24 when he scored the game-winning goal in a 3-2 triumph over the St. Louis Blues. Iginla played one more game -- a 2-0 road loss to the Chicago Blackhawks two nights later -- before being traded to Pittsburgh. a Giordano, who succeeded Iginla as Flames captain this season, played his fourth straight game after missing 18 contests with a broken ankle. He recorded an assist on Hudlers goal to give him 12 points (three goals, nine assists) in 12 games. ' ' '