Coming into their semi-final matchup Friday morning in Paris, Team USA were the heavy favorites to beat the Nikola Jokic-led Serbian team, as the original points spread was (-17.5) with -2000 money line odds in the Americans' favor. That is to say, these two teams were no strangers, including their exhibition and group play matchups, Team USA and Serbia faced-off three different times in the past three weeks.
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As the game got underway the underdog team, Serbia, surprised many as they dominated on both sides of the floor, making three-pointers galore (10 first half 3's); Team USA was losing 54-43 at halftime.
Then, heading into the fourth quarter the Serbian team led 76-63, however, LeCaptain America and his counterpart Chef Curry took over down the stretch to save the day.
At the 3:39 mark in the last quarter LeBron James drove to the basket, tying the game at 84-84. Then Curry hit a three-pointer the following possession, which gave the Americans, who trailed by as much as 17 points, their first lead (87-86) since the middle of the first quarter.
What a win for Team USA! 🇺🇸
Steph Curry pours in nine 3-pointers en route to a game-high 36 points as the U.S. rallies from 17 down to beat Serbia 95-91 in the Olympic semi-finals.
USA vs France Saturday for the #GOLD pic.twitter.com/Jed32msRJa
— Ryan Field (@RyanFieldABC) August 8, 2024
The U.S. men's basketball team remains undefeated despite many close calls. With this in mind, tonight was no different, as it took stellar performances from both Stephen Curry, 36, and LeBron James, 39, to lead the Americans to a 95-91 victory.
In the win, Curry finished with 36 points on 9-for-14 shooting from long range, while the other Akron, Ohio native on the squad, LeBron contributed his second-ever Olympic triple-double with 16 points (6-for-9 FG), 12 rebounds, and 10 assists.
LeBron James has tallied the ONLY two U.S. Olympic triple-doubles in history.
HE DID IT EXACTLY 12 YEARS APART TO THE DAY:
👑 August 8th, 2012 —
11 PTS | 14 REB | 12 AST vs. Australia👑 August 8th, 2024 —
16 PTS | 12 REB | 10 AST vs. SerbiaCAPTAIN LEMERICA. 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/W13XjEeYj1
— Witness King James (@WITNESSKJ) August 8, 2024
"Got to get it the hard way, we was preaching that the whole fourth quarter," LeBron said. "Beating a team three times in the last three weeks, we knew it was going to be difficult. We knew Serbia was going to give us everything they had... Kudos to Serbia, but we came through. Chef Curry with a vintage Chef Curry game... we needed it, we needed it."
This was nearly a record-breaking performance, as Carmelo Anthony, who holds the U.S. Olympic record for most points in a game with 37, was also in attendance at the Bercy Arena in Paris, nearly witnessing Curry break his single-game points record and three-point record, only missing by one point/one three-pointer.
There have been only four (4) games in Olympic men's basketball history an American has scored more than 30 points:
• Carmelo Anthony - 37 pts (2012)
• Stephen Curry - 36 pts (2024)
• Carmelo Anthony - 31 pts (2016)
• Stephon Marbury - 31 pts (2004)The chef COOKED today. pic.twitter.com/rcUkWDXPde
— Ben Stevens (@BenScottStevens) August 8, 2024
Steph Curry was 1⃣ three-pointer from tying Carmelo Anthony's Olympic record 😲 #Paris2024
🇺🇸 Carmelo Anthony - 1⃣0⃣ 3FGM
🇺🇸 Steph Curry - 9⃣ 3FGM pic.twitter.com/F940WHSVBB— BasketNews (@BasketNews_com) August 8, 2024
With Team USA advancing to the gold-medal match, they will face the host country France in the championship on Saturday, August 10 at 3:30 pm ET.
THAT GOLD MEDAL GAME FEELING. 🇺🇸😤 #ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/tORqplX6SG
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) August 8, 2024
