PARIS, FRANCE - AUGUST 8: Lebron James of United States and Stephen Curry of the United States celebrate their victory and entry into the Final during the Men’s Semifinal Game between United States and Serbia on day thirteen of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Arena Bercy on August 8, 2024 in Paris, France. | Photo by Daniela Porcelli/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images
This comeback will be talked about for years.
Admit it.
You thought they were cooked, didn’t you? And it’s understandable, because Serbia was great. Not good. Not really good.
Great.
Team USA won 95-91 but was not playing well for much of the game That doesn’t explain why Serbia played so very well, however. Those guys were inspired. They played with passion. They executed brilliantly. And for most of the game, the US could not match it.
Serbia opened with a 31-23 first quarter. The US was closer in the second, losing that period just 23-20 and playing basically even in the third as well, 22-20.
The fourth quarter was the passion play. The US started to catch up gradually but with 8:18 left was still down 76-67.
Kevin Durant and Devin Booker both hit threes to cut the lead to 80-75 and after a couple of baskets by each side, Joel Embiid hit a three point play the old fashioned way with 5:00 to play to cut the lead to four, 84-80. Then he hit another basket to cut it to 84-82.
LeBron James tied it up at 84 all with 3:43 left then Serbia got a dunk from Filip Petrusev to go back up two.
Then the greats took over.
James found Stephen Curry for a three, then hit a layup himself to put the US up 91-86. Curry followed that with a steal and a layup to push the lead to 91-86 with 1:41 to go.
The old saying is the flip was switched. Yes, but it was more than that. It was a declaration of supremacy: you can’t have this game. Not today.
Bogdan Bogdanovic, who had a brilliant game, had an over-and-back with 1:31 left, something he’s going to be thinking about for a long time.
He made up for it with a three point play on the next possession but the US was still up 91-89 and the entire vibe had changed.
Serbia was playing with a wonderful arrogance earlier but now, with Team USA dictating everything, the Serbs struggled. Nothing was easy.
Durant made a jumper with :34 left to give the US a 93-89 lead. Nikola Jokic hid a jumper in the lane with :24 left but let the US run clock until fouling Curry, arguably the greatest shooter in history, with just :08 left.
And that, as they say, was that.
Curry finished with 36 on 12-19/9-14 shooting and also had a highly impressive eight rebounds.
Embiid, who has taken a lot of criticism from US fans and the French fans in the arenas who wished he had played for them, shot 8-11 for 19 points. James finished with 16 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. Durant finished with nine points off the bench.
Former Duke star Jayson Tatum did not play.
The thrilling win puts the US in the finals against surprising France. Les Bleus upset Germany and will play at home for gold on Saturday. That’s another obstacle for Team USA to overcome but so far, they seem to be overcoming things fairly well.
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