PARIS: The United States won its fifth consecutive Olympic men's basketball championship on Saturday, defeating France 98-87 to take its total to 17 Olympic gold medals.
In a rematch of the Tokyo Olympic finals three years ago, LeBron James and the U.S. team, which is made up of NBA superstars, once again proved they were superior to France, despite spending big on NBA Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama.
France trailed by 14 points to three with 3 minutes, 4 seconds left on a Wembanyama dunk, but Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry made one of four three-pointers he made with less than three minutes remaining and the USA kept on racing toward the finish.
Stephen Curry celebrates with the US flag (Reuters)
Curry made eight three-pointers, including a rainbow one over a leaping Wembanyama, and led the U.S. in scoring with 24 points.
“You’re just so impressed, having him around you, you try to stop him and find other ways on the other side, but you also try to find him, get him the ball,” James said of Curry.
“I just tried to calm us down,” Curry said of his bravery late in the game.
“The only thing we want to do is shoot well,” Curry said. “We haven’t had a good shot in a while.”
“Eventually, the momentum was on our side. At that point, your mind was blank. You didn’t care about the scene or the situation or anything. It was just filming.”
Kevin Durant and Devin Booker each scored 15 points, while James scored 14 points, along with six rebounds, 10 assists, one steal and one block.
Durant won his fourth Olympic gold medal in the history of the U.S. men's team, James won his third, and four-time NBA champion Curry won his first gold in his first Olympics.
“It’s such a relief,” Curry said. “It’s not easy, but I’m so excited. This is everything I wanted it to be and more, so I’m so excited.”
Wembanyama had his best offensive performance of the Olympics, scoring 26 points, while Gershon Yabusele added 20 points.
France made just nine of their 30 three-point attempts, and the United States led 31-9 on fast-paced play.
Both teams tried to play hard defensively in a tense first half that saw 10 lead changes.
Wembanyama's header dunk gave France an 11-10 lead and thrilled the Bercy Arena crowd.
France's Victor Wembanyama in action (Reuters)
The Americans soon took the lead again when Booker got a layup from behind James and James' steal allowed Jason Tatum to break free for a dunk.
After one quarter, France took a 25-24 lead on a dunk by Bilal Coulibaly, but the US continued to gain ground on French miscues.
James drove through traffic for a layup, was fouled and moved to the U.S. bench before hitting a free throw that gave the U.S. a 37-31 lead and they led 49-41 at the half.
The dream final attracted a host of celebrities, including French President Emmanuel Macron and renowned sprinter Sha'Karry Richardson, who was in attendance the day after she won gold in the US 4x100m relay.
James signaled his intentions early on by stepping onto the court in the Golden Boot and opening the scoring with a dunk.
Curry, who scored 36 points to help his team come back from a loss to Serbia in the semifinals, came back hot in the second half, helping the USA take its biggest lead of the game, 61-47, on a three-pointer early in the third quarter.
France continued to press and trailed by just six points entering the fourth quarter, but the U.S. players celebrated late in the game while wearing the national flag.
A distraught Wembanyama could only hug his teammates, but with a silver medal around his neck, he called the experience “incredible” and said he would try to repay them in Los Angeles in 2028.
“I will go for the gold medal in the next four years,” he said.
Earlier on Saturday, Serbia claimed the bronze medal with a 93-83 victory over World Cup champions Germany.
Three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic had a triple-double with 19 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists to lead Serbia to a 95-91 loss to the United States in the semifinals.
