With a remarkable comeback victory over Serbia 95-91 in the basketball tournament at the Paris 2024 Olympics, the United States advanced to the gold medal game. Stephen Curry led the way with 36 points.
Serbia led by 13 points going into the fourth quarter, making it appear as though Team USA, the winners of gold in the last four Olympic games, would not make it to the championship game on Saturday.
Serbia, who led by as many as 17 points at one point in the first half, was led by NBA MVP Nikola Jokic, who finished with 17 points and 11 assists.
Aleksa Avramovic scored 15 points and Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 20 for Serbia, but they were not able to hold on and exact revenge for their group stage loss to the USA, 110-84.
The USA’s offence was led by Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors for the majority of the game, but with less than four minutes left, LeBron James’ driving layup tied the score at 84-84.
After prolonged defensive struggles, the USA started to put significant pressure on Serbia late in the fourth quarter. With Serbia leading 86-84 at the time, Ognjen Dobric’s missed 3-pointer proved to be the game-winning shot.
With two minutes and twenty-four seconds remaining, Curry made a 3-point jumper off a James pass to put the USA ahead. Both players then extended their lead with layups as Serbia withered.
With eight seconds remaining, two free throws from Curry gave the USA the victory after Serbia had twice pulled within two points in the last minute.
After Serbia plays Germany for bronze, they will play the hosts France, headed by NBA Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama, in the gold medal game on Saturday.
James finished with a triple-double, adding 12 rebounds and 10 assists to his 16 points. Joel Embiid, his USA teammate, scored 19 points.
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