Lebron James tussles with Bogdan Bogdanovic at the Bercy Arena, in Paris, on Aug. 8.Piroschka Van De Wouw/Reuters
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 three-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.
“I’ve seen a lot of Team USA basketball,” Curry said. “And that was a special one.”
Serbia led by 11 with 7:19 left. The rest of the way, all U.S. The Americans won a game where they led for 3 minutes and 25 seconds. Serbia led for 35:12 – nearly 90 per cent of the game.
But it’ll be the U.S. against host France for gold in a dream matchup for the host nation on Saturday, while Serbia will face Germany earlier Saturday for bronze. The gold-medal game is a rematch from the Tokyo Games three years ago, where the Americans prevailed 87-82.
“I’m really humbled to have been a part of this game,” U.S. coach Steve Kerr said, tipping his hat multiple times to Serbia. “It’s one of the greatest basketball games I’ve ever been a part of. They were perfect. They played a perfect game. Our coaches were saying, Villanova-Georgetown, for all of our older readers and viewers out there.
“But they played the perfect game, and they forced us to reach the highest level of competition that we could find. And our guys were incredible in that fourth quarter, and they got it done.”
Joel Embiid scored 19 points on 8 for 11 shooting and LeBron James added 16 for the U.S., which is now assured of its 20th medal in 20 Olympic appearances.
“Joel was everything,” James said. “Made every big shot.”
Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 20 points for Serbia, which got 17 from Nikola Jokic and 15 from Aleksa Avramovic. The Serbians were 0-3 against the U.S. this summer, getting blown out in the first two meetings and then looking poised for a win of their own on Thursday.
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 three-pointer while Anthony Davis was getting fouled. The U.S. got another possession, and off the inbounds Devin Booker made another three-pointer.
Just like that, a 78-67 lead for Serbia was down to 78-73. The comeback was on, and Curry’s three 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.
Curry’s 36 points were the second-most in a game by a U.S. men’s player in Olympic history, one shy of Carmelo Anthony’s record 37 against Nigeria in 2012. And Anthony, sitting courtside, was Curry’s biggest cheerleader. When the Americans tied it with about 3:35 left, Curry gave Anthony a big smile. When the go-ahead 3 rattled home, Anthony leaped from his seat. And when it was over, the two shared a long embrace.
“That was a godlike performance,” Durant said of Curry.
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. His mind wasn’t changed after this one.
“They’re that good,” he said.
A barrage of Serbian three-pointers had the Americans squarely on the ropes, until the game changed in the fourth. But in the end, the U.S. improved to 144-6 all-time in Olympic play, 63-4 since NBA players were added to the Olympics in 1992.
“Perseverance, hard work dedication, Chef Curry and Joel ‘Process’ Embiid,” James said. “Big-time win for us. We knew we were going to be challenged. We knew it was going to be the toughest game to date. Total effort.”
The comeback kept Durant’s hopes of becoming the first four-time Olympic men’s gold medalist very much alive, and gave the U.S. a chance to return to the international basketball mountaintop. The Americans were fourth at the World Cup last summer, a result that spurred some NBA stars like James and Curry to be part of this team.
And of all the U.S. semi-final moments, this was like few others. The four-point final margin was the second closest in American history in the Olympic semi-finals; the U.S. beat Lithuania by two in the 2000 semi-finals in Sydney, on the way to gold there.
They’re one win away from another.
“I’m 39 years old, going into my 22nd season, I don’t know how many opportunities and moments I’m going to get like this to compete for something, compete for something big and play in big games,” James said. “And tonight was a big game.”