Team USA men’s basketball has captured its fifth consecutive gold medal. Stephen Curry, LeBron James and Kevin Durant led the Americans to a 98-87 victory against host country France to win gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics on Saturday. It was a tense gold medal game in front of a raucous pro-France crowd at Bercy Arena in Paris, but Team USA never trailed in the second half and Curry put the game away with a mesmerizing 3-point flurry. Victor Wembanyama made life difficult for the Americans, scoring a team-best 26 points in the biggest game of his life to date.
France cut the Team USA lead to three points in the closing minutes, but then Curry answered. The best shooter in basketball history hit a startling four 3-pointers in a two-minute span that gave the Americans the breathing room they needed in the closing moments. Curry finished with 24 points on 8-for-12 3-point shooting against France after scoring 36 and hitting nine 3s against Serbia.
It’s the first Olympic gold medal for Curry, who never appeared in the Games until this summer.
“This was a test. Obviously France in their home building, you knew they weren’t going to quit,” he told NBC after the game. “They threw everything at us. …We got a little out of sorts down the stretch, turned the ball over, took quick shots… the rhythm, that avalanche came. thankfully the other 3 went in. That was an unbelievable moment. I’ve been blessed to play basketball at a high level for a very long time. This ranks very high in terms of the excitement and sense of relief getting to the finish line.”
Team USA hit 18 3-pointers in the gold medal game, shooting 50% from beyond the arc. That level of 3-point shooting helped the Americans overcome 17 turnovers. Durant had 15 points against France as he won his fourth gold medal (becoming the first men’s player to do so) and James added 14 points, 10 assists and six rebounds.
Guerschon Yabusele aided Wembanyama with 20 points for France, including a poster dunk over James in the second quarter. France hung around all game, but the team hit just 30% of its 3-pointers.
Serbia won the bronze medal over Germany earlier on Saturday. Here’s a look at all the men’s basketball medal winners of the 21st century.
This story was originally published by CBS Sports on Aug. 10, 2024.
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