It wasn’t fairly, at the very least not for 3 quarters. However it was simply sufficient to maneuver on and arrange Staff USA for an opportunity at one other gold medal.
Steph Curry led the staff with 36 factors off 9 three-pointers, because the U.S. mounted an enormous fourth-quarter comeback towards Serbia within the semifinals of the Paris Olympics, profitable 95-91.
Down as a lot as 15 late within the third quarter, the scenario appeared dire for Staff USA, with Serbia having all of the momentum and controlling a lot of the sport. The U.S. wasn’t in a position to get again inside 10 factors till simply over seven minutes left within the recreation.
However the remainder of the way in which was all U.S.
Lebron James hit clutch pictures within the closing minutes, ending up along with his second profession Olympic triple-double, with 16 factors, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. Kevin Durant had simply 9 factors for the sport, however seven of these had been within the closing quarter. Joel Embiid added an enormous 19 as nicely.
Solely 4 triple-doubles have been registered in Olympic basketball, and two of them had been by LeBron James.
Serbia began off with a scorching first quarter the place it led by double digits, and the momentum continued within the second, resulting in a 54-43 lead. It had its largest lead of the sport at 76-61 with simply seconds to go within the third quarter. A brief-range shot from Durant lower that result in 13 simply earlier than the buzzer, but it surely appeared Serbia had been in management.
The fourth quarter was a unique animal, nevertheless. The U.S. outscored Serbia 32-15 within the final 10 minutes en path to the win, at one level scoring six factors in two seconds.
The entire recreation modified within the fourth after a wild sequence noticed the U.S. rating six factors in two seconds. Durant made a 3-pointer whereas Anthony Davis was getting fouled. The U.S. received one other possession, and off the inbounds Devin Booker made one other 3-pointer.
Curry hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 2:16 left. He added a pair of free throws with 8.2 seconds left to make it a two-possession recreation and the People escaped.
Staff USA wanted a late rally to beat a 15 level deficit towards Nikola Jokic and Serbia to clinch a spot within the gold medal match towards France.
The U.S. beforehand beat Serbia 105-79 in an exhibition July 17 and once more 110-84 July 28 within the first recreation of Paris pool play.
Staff USA will face host nation France within the gold medal matchup at 3:30 p.m. ET Saturday. The underdog French, led by Victor Wembanyama, beat Germany 73-69 within the first semifinal recreation Thursday. It will likely be a rematch of the boys’s basketball closing from the Tokyo Olympics.
The U.S. is trying to seize their fifth consecutive gold medal in males’s basketball. Staff USA has received a males’s basketball medal in each Olympics by which it has competed (the U.S. boycotted Moscow in 1980) and is searching for their seventeenth gold medal in males’s basketball.
On a participant stage, a win for Staff USA would imply Durant would grow to be the primary four-time Olympic males’s basketball gold medalist.
France has by no means received a gold medal in males’s basketball, however has received three silver medals — all of which have been loses to the U.S. (1948, 2000, 2020). It will be the primary time a number nation has received a gold medal in males’s basketball since 1996, when the U.S. received in Atlanta.
Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 20 factors for Serbia, which received 17 from Nikola Jokic and 15 from Aleksa Avramovic. Serbia will face Germany earlier Saturday for bronze.