Kevin Durant spent the closing minutes of the fourth quarter Wednesday evening on the bench, relaxed. A white towel draped over his head and a look of temporary satisfaction were mere indicators of the day's work done. And what a day it was.

Throughout the 105-78 quarterfinal victory over Argentina, Durant was electric, special even. The 6-foot-9 forward did it all, setting the tone early, and finishing with a game-high 27 points to help Team USA advance to Friday's semifinal against Spain.

"It was just being me," Durant told NBC Sports of his approach following the game. "When I get the ball, I look to be aggressive, looking to either score or pass. When I'm on the perimeter, I just try to beat my man. I know I've got a good one-on-one matchup every time so I just try to take advantage."

Durant, who passed Michael Jordan to become fourth on Team USA's all-time scoring list in the first half, was efficient, too, connecting on nine of 13 shots, including 7-of-9 from 3-point range, while adding seven rebounds and six assists in 28 minutes.

It was a complete game not only for Durant, the face of this squad for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janiero, but also his teammates.

Offensively, there was more ball movement, resulting in 21 assists. Defensively, they were more locked in, forcing 16 Argentina turnovers.

"We played with passion and energy tonight. I think that's the big difference," Durant noted to the network. "The Xs and Os were good. We went over them a lot. But we played with passion and energy."

In addition to Durant, Paul George scored 17 points in a key reserve role, DeMarcus Cousins added 15 coming off the bench for the first time all Olympics, and Kyrie Irving chipped in 11.

Every member of Team USA tallied at least one point.

But the day belonged to Durant.

Durant caught fire early, scoring the team's first seven points. He was aggressive getting to the foul line in the opening possession, and knocking down perimeter jumpers.

It just took a while to get other teammates going, though.

Argentina, with four players (Luis Scola, 15; Manu Ginobili, 14; Facundo Campazzo, 13; Andres Nocioni, 12) in double figures, led by as many as 10 points late in the first quarter, but a pair of Durant 3-pointers were a highlight spark to a 27-2 run that eventually became 56-40 halftime lead and second-half rout.

"We have to keep building on this," Durant said. "We have a tough game coming up in the semifinals. We look forward to playing."

If performances like Durant's in the first knockout game continue, there's plenty more to look forward to.