The Team USA Men’s Basketball team defeated Serbia 95-91 on Thursday at the Paris Olympics. After struggling throughout, the Americans came back from as many as 13 down in the fourth to win. The match was the tournament semifinal, and the victory moves the Americans into the gold medal match on Saturday against France.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Team USA struggled early in this contest after an initial surge. A Stephen Curry three gave the Americans a 15-13 lead, but Bogdan Bogdanovic quickly answered and Serbia retook the lead. Serbia held the lead for the rest of the quarter, finishing on a run and making it 31-23 heading into the second.
In the second quarter, an 11-0 run made it 42-25 in favor of the Serbians. Team USA tried to grind their way back into the game, but could not get it within single digits for the rest of the half. The hot shooting of Serbia continued from outside, and a three from Aleksa Avramovic made it 54-40. LeBron James made a three-point play right before the half, but Team USA trailed 54-43 at the break.
The third quarter saw more of the same. While the lead was down to six at one point, Serbia quickly stretched it out again. NBA star Nikola Jokic was impacting the game in a variety of ways, and his assist helped them get the lead back up to nine. By the end of the third, Team USA was in serious jeopardy of having their gold medal run ended, trailing 76-63.
In the fourth quarter, the Americans made a run. A 10-2 stretch to begin the quarter got it to within five at 78-73. Later in the quarter, Joel Embiid scored five straight points to get the Americans within two. Then, a layup by James finally tied things up at 84. Serbia got an easy dunk, but then Curry hit a three to finally give the US another lead. James and Curry scored the next four to extend the lead, and the Americans held on for dear life at the end. They escaped with a 95-91 victory.
BIG NUMBER: 50
Team USA shot 50% from the floor, and they needed every bit of that percentage. Curry led the way and helped the Americans survive the upset bid.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Stephen Curry
Perhaps the best shooter in basketball history showed why in this one. He went 9-14 from three, scoring 36 points total to will the Americans into the gold medal match.
UP NEXT: Team USA will face France in the gold medal match on Saturday, August 10th at 2:30 PM.