PARIS — The United States men’s basketball dynasty was on the verge of collapse amid a barrage of Serbian three-pointers and questionable coaching decisions, but Stephen Curry refused to let it happen. After falling 17 points behind in the first half Thursday, the Americans rallied in the fourth quarter to defeat Nikola Jokic and Serbia 95-91 at Bercy Arena.
Despite trailing for more than 35 minutes of the 40-minute game, the Americans will face France on Saturday for a chance to win their sixth consecutive Olympic gold medal. Serbia will face Germany for bronze.
Within a few minutes, the good feelings from the United States’ blowout win over Brazil in the quarterfinals had already become a distant memory. Curry provided nearly all the Americans’ offense early on, scoring 14 of the U.S. team’s first 15 points en route to a game-high 36 points and an astonishing nine three-pointers. With the game on the line late, Curry rattled in a three-pointer, converted a transition layup and made two free throws to bring home the win.
Remarkably, Curry scored more points and made more three-pointers against Serbia than he had in the Americans’ four previous games at the Olympics combined.
“I haven’t shot the ball well the whole time here, but it doesn’t waver your confidence to meet the moment,” Curry said. “I had some great looks to start the game and knocked them down. It kept the rhythm flowing. You live for those moments.
Any U.S. loss in the Olympics would be stunning, but this one would have been doubly so given that the Americans had blown out Serbia twice previously this summer and were 15.5-point favorites. The U.S. team scored a 105-79 win in a July 17 exhibition in Abu Dhabi and a 110-84 victory in a July 28 group play game in Lille, France, but the third time almost proved to be the charm for the Serbians.
“Our coaches were saying Villanova-Georgetown, for all of our older readers and viewers,” U.S. Coach Steve Kerr said, referencing the famous upset in the 1985 NCAA championship game. “[Serbia] played the perfect game. They forced us to reach the highest level of competition that we could find.”
The U.S. team’s uncharacteristic reliance upon a single star early in the game — rather than the more balanced scoring approach the Americans had displayed throughout the tournament — was a red flag that ceded control to Serbia.
With Jokic, the three-time NBA MVP, playing setup man, the Serbians shot 9 for 19 on three-pointers to build a 42-25 lead midway through the second quarter. The U.S. needed a quick scoring spurt from Joel Embiid and a three-point play from LeBron James to cut Serbia’s halftime lead to 54-43.
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