PARIS, France — After concluding the preparation schedule with a 5-0 record, including two victories at 02 Arena in London, including over South Sudan and Germany. Team USA traveled to Lille on Wednesday before participating in a media day and practicing in Paris. A strong focus remains on Kevin Durant’s injury status before facing Serbia on Sunday.

Team USA head coach Steve Kerr wants the group to lock into the details and provide 40 minutes of “force, attention, and focus” from here on out. There isn’t a traditional NBA postseason margin for error of having a best-of-seven playoff series, requiring the group’s best results daily while striving for a gold medal. He felt the group was outplayed for too much of their victories against Germany and South Sudan in London.

“I think that’s what today is about — it’s the reminder, ‘It’s time,’ you know?” Kerr said on Thursday. “We’re not traveling around anymore. We’re here. We’ve got six games. We’ve got to get into the pool play, advance, and then it’s NCAA Tournament. So we need 40 minutes of force, attention, and focus, and we can’t let teams outplay us with effort and energy like we did the other night against Germany, like we did against South Sudan.”

The competitive landscape continues to evolve each time Team USA competes at the Olympic Games. Durant echoed that sentiment by reminding reporters that they are facing teams with world-class talent, just like they have. “We’re playing against 65 or 64 NBA players now,” Durant said. “They’re all the best of the best in the world now.”

While respect for the opponents in the Olympic pool is evident, Team USA understands the group has yet to produce its best basketball.

Steve Kerr feels Team USA has another “two levels” to uncap

Team USA has yet to reach its full potential. There have been impressive performances along the way ahead of the Paris Olympics, but regardless, there have been slow starts in recent matches that have required LeBron James to put the team on his back before leading the team to a victory.

Kerr believes there are levels still untapped that, if achieved, would carry this squad all the way to the top. “We have another level,” Kerr said. “I think we have another two levels that we can get to. But it’s a collaboration, always. So we can show the strategic stuff on the tape, in the walkthrough, and show them, ‘Hey, let’s do this. Let’s do that. Let’s learn (opposing) personnel. We’ve got to know the shooters, know the non-shooters and all that stuff.’ So that’s where we can help them.”

Based on what he’s seen during the preparation process, Kerr doesn’t feel the team has provided sufficient effort. “Just effort and energy, play after play after play,” Kerr detailed. “This is different. This is not an 82-game season. They’re not going to play 125 games total with preseason and playoffs and all that. It’s literally six games.

To reach that level, Kerr called out his team for not providing enough effort throughout games, whether by not running up the floor quickly enough or not boxing out, for example. “Watching the tape, we’re jogging through some possessions, not hitting bodies on box-outs. And so it’s time,” Kerr reiterated. “It’s time to lock in on that. And as I said, that’s for all of us — coaches and players — to get to that point.”

Devin Booker emphasized the need for the group to string together more defensive stops to create more chances to push the pace on the break. Otherwise, having to inbound the ball after allowing the opposition to score results in a slower game. “It’s hard to get the pace up when you’re taking the ball out the net every time, and teams are scoring,” Booker said. “I think they shot like 20 or 30 more 3s than us. I think that’s a style and brand that we’re trying to play. It was a good test for us for our last friendly.”

Whether it’s against Serbia on Sunday or later during the Group Phase, help could be on the way, which could spark some momentum.

Kevin Durant is motivated to return quickly

Kevin Durant has been sidelined since Team USA training camp in Las Vegas due to a calf strain, but he’s continued progressing toward a return to competition. It just remains to be seen how early that’ll be. “Each day is getting better,” Durant told reporters on Thursday. “Another intense practice, and we’ll see how it feels.”

Team USA would like Durant to participate in multiple full practices before being cleared to play. He’s been doing on-court work but practiced fully on Wednesday. The distinction that’s important to note is that it was a non-contact practice. He played five-on-five as a full participant in Thursday’s practice, setting up the possibility of getting that second practice before the first game.

A special day is planned for Friday when the players meet fellow American Olympians in the Olympic Village. During the opening ceremony, they will ride on the Team USA boat down the River Seine to Paris through a truly historic event.

Durant is again embracing the opportunity to represent the United States on the Olympic stage. “You tend to just stay in the moment and realize this is a special time,” Durant said. “It’s just been cool being around all of these great players and seeing ’em in a different element outside of just being competitors. As teammates, you always got that competitive fire.”

The value of having Durant on the court is evident. His shot creation, ability to attack off the catch, and quickness and length defensively present many versatile lineup combinations for Team USA, both as an on-ball defender and weak-side help defender. Having his talent on the floor next to LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and the other supremely talented players creates a daunting opponent to handle.

The Olympic achievements Durant has provided the USA Basketball program as a three-time gold medalist should not be understated. No player has ever scored more points in an Olympic competition while wearing a Team USA uniform than Durant. After participating in three Olympic Games, he entered his fourth with 435 total points and was the only player ever to score 400 or more.