For three quarters, the USA-Serbia Olympic semifinal game felt, to me, like a certain game in Charlotte a few years ago involving UVA and UMBC.
No matter what Team USA did, particularly in a frustrating third quarter, Serbia had the answer, on the way to building the 13-point lead that the Serbs would take into the fourth quarter.
Team USA had one thing Tony Bennett didn’t have back in 2018: Steph Curry.
Curry went for 36 points on 12-of-19 shooting, 9-of-14 from three, and it was a Curry three with 2:24 to go that put the U.S. ahead to stay in a 95-91 win on Thursday.
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It wasn’t just Curry, of course. Joel Embiid scored seven straight points for the U.S. to get the Americans back to within two with 4:22 to go.
A pair of LeBron James layups in transition were also key – the first tied the score with 3:43 left, the second, at the 2:02 mark, gave Team USA an 89-86 lead.
A Curry steal and fast-break layup pushed the lead to five, ahead of a Bogdan Bogdanovic and-one that got the Serbs back to within two with 56 seconds left.
Kevin Durant drilled a 21-footer with the shot clock winding down to make it 93-89 US.
Nikola Jokic scored on a quick post-up to get the margin to 93-91.
Serbia then made a major strategic blunder, allowing the clock to bleed inside 10 seconds to go before fouling to stop the clock, sending, appropriately, Curry to the line, where Curry sank both ends.
Bogdanovic missed a desperation three with two seconds left to end it.
The Americans had beaten the Serbs twice this summer, both times by 26 points, but Serbia was able to get and keep control for the first 30 minutes with hot shooting from three, going 15-of-30 from long-range in the first three quarters.
Team USA, then, won with a mix of lights-out shooting in the fourth – the Americans were 13-of-17 from the field – and defense, holding the Serbs to 15 points on 7-of-18 shooting, including an 0-for-9 mark from three.
Embiid had 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting for the U.S.
James messed around and got a triple-double – 16 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists.
The triple-double is the fourth-ever in Olympic history.
Team USA (5-0 in the 2024 Paris Games) will face host France (4-1) for the gold medal on Saturday. The opening tip is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET.
France advanced to the final with a 73-69 win over Germany earlier on Thursday.
Victor Wembenyama, the 2024 NBA Rookie of the Year, had 11 points on 4-of-17 shooting for France in the win.
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Chris Graham
