Team USA on Thursday had to produce a breathtaking comeback to defeat Serbia 95-91 and advance to the men’s basketball gold medal game.
Serbia — led by three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokić — led by 17 points at one stage during the second quarter but saw its lead evaporate against the supercharged offense of the US.
Two of the sport’s biggest names, LeBron James and Steph Curry, led the comeback with some clutch buckets down the stretch as the defending Olympic champion avoided what would have been an all-time upset.
Team USA will take on host nation France in the gold medal game on Saturday.
James posted only the fourth triple-double in Olympic history, while Curry had by far his best performance of the Games, leading all scorers with 36 points.
After failing to medal at the World Cup last year, the US assembled a roster that can be considered a “who’s who” of NBA players; the squad features four NBA MVP winners and 11 All-Stars.
Team USA has occasionally showed a lack of cohesion on both sides of the ball that might be expected from a team full of ball-dominant superstars. However, it has been able to blow away opponents so far thanks to its incredibly talented and deep offense.
It appeared as though the US would streak ahead in the first quarter, as Golden State Warriors star Curry drained five triples and scored 17 points in only eight minutes.
Serbia, though, had other plans and also came out on fire from behind the arc, making five threes and shooting 65% from the field as a team in the opening period. It also frustrated Team USA with swarming defense throughout the game, forcing the stars to settle for deep attempts and keeping them out of the paint.
The American squad is full of scorers who thrive in isolation and it failed to generate many clean looks during the first half, struggling to keep up with a Serbian side that was shooting lights out at the other end.
The Europeans’ lead had ballooned to 17 midway through the second quarter and Team USA was firmly on upset watch.
Late USA comeback
Some good shotmaking from the likes of Curry, Jrue Holiday and Joel Embiid – still receiving large boos from the Paris crowd after opting to play for the US over France – cut the lead to six in the third, but Jokić and company were determined to keep their opponents at an arm’s length.
A huge and-one on a three-pointer from guard Marko Gudurić highlighted another strong period for the Serbs, who headed into the fourth with a 13-point lead.
However, this American squad of “Avengers” might just be inevitable.
An Embiid bucket made it a one-possession game with just over four minutes to go, before a vintage driving layup for James tied the game at 84.
Soon after, a clutch Curry three gave the US its first lead since the fourth minute of the matchup. Bogdan Bogdanović converted an and-one to keep things interesting in the closing stages, but Kevin Durant, now Team USA’s all-time leading Olympic scorer, iced the game with a crucial midrange shot with 34 seconds left.
James posted 16 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists, while Embiid scored 19. Bogdanović led the way for Serbia with 20, with Jokić close behind with 17.
A battle for the ages ended in heartbreaking defeat for Serbia, who will take on Germany for the bronze medal.
For Team USA, it was an almighty scare that might have proved that this team of superstars isn’t unbeatable after all. For France and its home support, that might be all it needs to believe.
This story has been updated with additional information.
