PARIS (Diya TV) – After falling behind for the majority of the game, USA Men’s Basketball managed to get by Serbia 95-91 and advance to the Olympic final. It was a gutsy performance after Serbia was up by as many as 17 points.
It was the Steph Curry show in Paris as the guard had 36 points and nine three-pointers (one shy of the Olympic record for threes made in a single game). Down the stretch, Curry made a huge three to give the USA an 87-86 lead before grabbing a steal and making a layup on the other end.
Elsewhere, Lebron James continued a great tournament run with 16 points while Joel Embiid had 19 of his own. Embiid did struggle to grab rebounds in the final quarter, but the scoring prowess made up for it as every point mattered at the end.
It was a valiant effort by the Serbians, who were led by the duo of Nikola Jokic and Bogdan Bogdanovic (who had 20 and 17 points, respectively). Aleksa Avramovic was the third Serbian player in double figures with 15 points. The U.S. was overwhelmed early on due to Serbia applying pressure on offense. It’s safe to say, the Americans were truly pushed to the brink and came out victorious in the end.
The game is already being hailed as an instant classic and one of the best Olympic basketball games of all time. Curry’s performance is also being regarded as one of the greatest Olympic basketball performances ever.
Next up for the USA is a matchup with France in the gold medal game. With Jokic doing damage to them, it’ll be interesting to see how young French phenom Victor Wembanyama matches up against the Americans. After a signature performance, it is yet to be seen what an encore performance could look like for Steph Curry in what is the defining game for Team USA and its devastating lineup.
