Paris, France- Stephen Curry had his breakthrough performance in these Paris Olympic Games when the United States dreams of gold were on life support against Serbia on Thursday, trailing by thirteen points headed into the fourth quarter. His 36 points spearhead a remarkable comeback, as the United States defeated Serbia 95-91 in their historic Semifinal, at the thunderous Bercy Arena in Paris.
Awaiting Team USA is a matchup against France for the Gold Medal on Saturday, August 10th. France knocked off Germany 73-69, in the day’s other gripping Semifinal game.
The Semifinal was a shootout from the jump. The U.S. trailed from the 5:46 mark until the final minutes of the game. The Americans had not trailed by more than 8 points in any game until the second quarter of tonight’s matchup (25-37, 8:17), and after a Nikola Jokic and-1 score, Serbia took its largest lead of 17 points (42-25) with 6:24 to play in the second quarter.
The U.S. trailed 63-76 to start the fourth quarter but worked themselves back into the game thanks to Embiid and Curry. As the U.S. were behind 75-82 with 6:03 to play, Embiid went on a personal 7-2 run to bring the game within one possession (82-84). After a stop, the Americans tied the game at 84 on a James driving layup. The Americans took their first lead, 87-86, on a Curry three, his ninth of the night, with just over 2:24 remaining.
If Team USA cruising through its first four games lulled you into a false sense of the Americans suddenly expanding the gap on their competitors, that gap just isn’t there anymore. Yes, the United States has the best squad by a sizable margin.
But against the best of the rest, it is still not enough of a margin to avoid vulnerability. Team USA played a mediocre half, Serbia played an awesome one.
The U.S. trailed 76-63 to start the fourth quarter, as stomachs churned of fans of the Red, White and Blue as the dream of Gold was slipping through their hands. It was a glorious comeback, as Team USA saved the best for last.
Working themselves back into the game thanks to Embiid and Curry. As the U.S. were behind 75-82 with 6:03 to play, Embiid went on a personal 7-2 run to bring the game within one possession (82-84). After a stop, the Americans tied the game at 84 on a James driving layup. The Americans took their first lead, 87-86, on a Curry three, his ninth of the night, with just over 2:24 remaining.
Serbia scared the U.S. lead by bringing the game within one possession on two occurrences in the final minute of the fourth quarter, but the game was capped off by Curry, who sunk 2 free throws with 8 seconds left putting the United States ahead 95-91 for good.
The Americans saw the Serbians shoot the lights out from behind the arc through the first three quarters. Serbia went 15-of-30 from deep before entering the fourth frame. If the USA had hopes of winning the game, they had to slow down the long-range shooting from the opponent.
Serbia was held 0-of-9 from 3-point range in the final frame. The U.S. defense also caused 3 of Serbia’s 7 total turnovers in the last 10 minutes.
LeBron Jame grabbed his second Olympic career triple-double with 16 points (6-9 FG, 2-4 3FG, 2-3 FT), 12 rebounds and 10 assists. He led the team in rebounding and passing in the game.
His sensational triple-double was the fourth in Olympic history and he is the first player to record multiple triple-doubles in an Olympic career. Joel Embiid followed up his 14-point showing in the quarterfinals against Brazil with 19 points (8-11 FG, 2-3 3FG), 4 rebounds and 2 assists against Serbia.
This game was the Steph Show, as Curry delivered a performance for the ages, adding to his Hall of Fame legacy. His 36 points are the second-most by an American at the Olympics. Carmelo Anthony holds the record with 37 points (13-16 FG, 10-12 3FG) against Nigeria in the 2012 Olympic Games.
Additionally, his 9 3-pointers are the second-most ever by an American at The Games and most ever by a player in an elimination game.
Team USA moves on to face Team France, who will have a significant homecourt advantage on Saturday, August 10th.
Everything will be on the line, as the United States looks for their fifth straight Gold Medal. It is a rematch of the Tokyo games final, a fiercely close game the U.S. pervailed.
USA vs. France is Saturday afternoon. Tipoff is 12:30 p.m. the game will air on NBC.
