To the gold medal game they go!
Just as we’d all been hoping and waiting for, the basketball world was treated to one of its most entertaining actions on Thursday: a true Steph Curry flurry. But, as Golden State Warriors fans have become all too accustomed to in recent years, it seemed like Curry wasn’t going to get enough help from his teammates.
After scoring just 29 points in Team USA’s first four games — a sweep of the group stage, and a win in the knockout stage against Brazil — Curry erupted for 36 points on Thursday, leading Team USA to a dramatic and thrilling 95-91 victory over Serbia, and sending the Americans into the gold medal game.
Curry was all the offense early. Less than four minutes in, Team USA lead 15-12 ... and Curry had scored 14 of those 15 points. But after that, it was all Serbia. The American offense dried up, while three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokić led a ball movement and three-point heavy Serbian attack. After that initial flurry, Serbia went on a 19-8 run to end the frame, leading 31-23 after the first quarter.
The teams played to a near draw over the next 20 minutes, but Serbia still got the best of Team USA in each quarter, and led 76-63 after three quarters. It was danger time for the Americans. They’d trailed by double-digits for almost the whole game, and were now just 10 minutes away from seeing their dream of a gold medal die fecklessly ... at the hands of a team they beat 110-84 in the group stage.
But they dug deep. Riding a five-man lineup of Curry, Devin Booker, LeBron James, Joel Embiid, and former-Warrior Kevin Durant, Team USA began chipping away at the lead. Huge shots by Curry and Durant kept the Americans in the game, and eventually Embiid started to take over, seemingly taking the best-center-in-the-NBA debate to the international stage, and going right at Jokić repeatedly, and with success.
With 2:24 remaining, James found Curry for a three, and Team USA took an 87-86 lead ... their first since the opening minutes of the first quarter. They would never relinquish that lead, and with eight seconds remaining, Curry would ice a pair of free throws to put the game out of reach, leading Team USA to a 95-91 win, and clinching his first Olympic medal.
Curry finished with 36 points on 12-for-19 shooting, including 9-for-14 from deep, and added eight rebounds as well. James was sensational all around, finishing with a hyper-efficient triple double of 16 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists. Embiid dropped in 19 points on 8-for-11 shooting, and played fantastic defense down the stretch.
With the win, Team USA moves into a gold medal showdown against France. The host country was not expected to make the gold medal game, but had impressive victories over Canada and Germany in the knockout stage, and now the Victor Wembanyama-led team will earn a silver medal at worst.
That game will be Saturday at 12:30 p.m. PT.
