U.S. edge Serbia to set up gold-medal game with France in Olympic men's basketball
Kyle Hightower | The Associated Press | Posted: August 8, 2024 5:54 PM | Last Updated: August 9
Serbia to take on Germany for bronze
They scored six points in two seconds. And just like that, against what looked like overwhelming odds, the U.S. Olympic men's basketball team was on its way.
To a comeback. To a win. And to another Olympic gold medal game.
Stephen Curry scored 36 points, including a go-ahead 3-pointer with 2:16 left, and the U.S. will play for gold in the Paris Olympics on Saturday night after beating Serbia 95-91. The U.S. trailed by 17 points in the first half, plus faced an 11-point halftime deficit — the biggest one successfully overcome by an American team since NBA players were added to the Olympic mix in 1992.
Serbia led by 11 with 7:19 left. The rest of the way, it was all U.S.
It'll be the U.S. against host France for gold in a dream matchup for the host nation on Saturday night, while Serbia will face Germany earlier Saturday for bronze.
The whole game changed in the fourth after a wild sequence saw the U.S. score six points in two seconds. Kevin Durant made a 3-pointer while Anthony Davis was getting fouled. The U.S. got another possession, and off the inbounds Devin Booker made another 3-pointer.
Just like that, a 78-67 lead for Serbia was down to 78-73. The comeback was on, and Curry's 3 put the U.S. up for good. He added a pair of free throws with 8.2 seconds left to make it a two-possession game and the Americans escaped.
Joel Embiid scored 19 points and LeBron James added 16 for the U.S., which is now assured of its 20th medal in 20 Olympic appearances.
Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 20 points for Serbia, which got 17 from Nikola Jokic and 15 from Aleksa Avramovic.
Serbia coach Svetislav Petic kept saying the same thing all summer, that the team the U.S. put together for the Paris Games was better than any in Olympic history. Even the Dream Team, he insisted.
A barrage of Serbian 3-pointers had the Americans squarely on the ropes, until the game changed in the fourth. The U.S. improved to 144-6 all-time in Olympic play, 63-4 since NBA players were added to the Olympics in 1992.
The comeback kept Kevin Durant's hopes of becoming the first four-time Olympic men's gold medallist very much alive,
And of all the U.S. semifinal moments, this was like few others. The four-point final margin was the second closest in American history in the Olympic semifinals; the U.S. beat Lithuania by two in the 2000 semifinals in Sydney, on the way to gold there.
France 73, Germany 69
With blue, white and red flags waving in the stands and cheers blaring around them, France's players took in the moment.
Matthew Strazel erupted in dance. Evan Fournier ripped his jersey off and skipped around. Later, the team gathered in a circle at centre court as fans erupted in an encore of, "Allez Les Bleus!" — "Let's go Blue!" — to serenade them.
Yes, the hometown team is headed back to the Olympic gold medal game, where Saturday they play the winner of the Serbia-U.S. game.
"We just want to win," said Guerschon Yabusele, who scored 17 points in France's 73-69 victory over Germany. "Whoever, we're going to figure it out."
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Isaia Cordinier added 16 points and Victor Wembanyama finished with 11 points and seven rebounds to help France — which won the silver medal in Toyko three years ago —- reach its second straight Olympic final.
The raucous crowd at Bercy Arena was engaged from the very beginning, hanging on every basket. And when the buzzer sounded, it sent fans into a frenzy. After a postgame handshake with their German opponents, the entire team ran to the baseline and saluted the crowd — which seemed to get louder to acknowledge the tribute.
"It was insane tonight," said France's Nicolas Batum. "I can't imagine what it's going to be Saturday. I can't wait."
Dennis Schroder led Germany with 18 points. Franz Wagner added 10 points and eight rebounds.
The loss ended the incredible run the Germans have been on over the last two years. Dating back to winning last year's World Cup, they had won 12 consecutive games in major international competition.
"After the first quarter, they kind of took us out of our rhythm," Wagner said.
With French and German basketball icons Tony Parker and Dirk Nowitzki sitting side-by-side at courtside, France outscored Germany 38-25 in the second and third quarters to take a 56-50 advantage into the fourth.
Germany didn't go down quietly.
It closed within 69-65 on a layup by Schroder with under a minute to play. Following a free throw by Frank Ntilikina, Germany cut the deficit to 70-68 on a deep 3-pointer by Wagner.
France dribbled the shot clock down, but Nicolas Batum came up empty on a 3-point attempt. Wagner got the rebound, but tumbled out of bounds as he tried to turn and dribble up the court. Germany was forced to foul Wembanyama.
The 20-year-old stepped to the line and missed his first free throw, then calmly dropped in the second to give France a three-point lead with 10 seconds remaining.
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France opted not to allow Germany a shot at 3-pointer an possibly tie the game, fouling Schroder and sending him to the line. He also connected only 1 of 2, leaving France up by two. Cordinier was fouled and hit both free throws to seal the game.
France stayed with the same modified starting lineup it deployed during its quarterfinal win over Canada, opening the game with Wembanyama, Yabusele, Cordinier, Nicolas Batum and Ntilikina. Evan Fournier and Rudy Gobert began the game on the bench for the second straight game.
It didn't yield the same initial success this around, as Germany took a 12-2 lead.
It forced France coach Vincent Collet to change things up less than four minutes in, inserting Fournier and later Mathias Lessort to help settle things down. They did, and France got back within seven points heading into the second quarter.
France kept that momentum going, outscoring Germany 15-8 over the next 10 minutes to send the game to halftime tied at 33.
The flurry included a two-handed, poster-ready dunk by Wembanyama over Daniel Theis that brought French fans to their feet.