Team USA got pushed to the brink. But this time, Goliath survived the shot to the head.
If the United States men’s basketball team wins its fifth straight Olympic gold — and it will have its chance Saturday — you will point back to this moment.
A monster game from Steph Curry. Outlasting three-time MVP Nikola Jokic. Overcoming a double-digit deficit in the fourth.
6And pulling out a 95-91 semifinal win over Serbia, a team that had worried them and proved even tougher than they had feared.
Team USA trailed by as much as 17 and by 13 after three quarters Thursday in Paris. But behind Curry’s game-high 36 points and a great endgame from Joel Embiid to slow his Serbian nemesis, Team USA won it with a 32-15 fourth quarter.
“For all of us being superstars and Hall of Famers on our respective teams and what we’ve all accomplished, the buy-in is there and it’s the only way you can do it to win,” Curry said. “To come back the way we did, I’ve seen a lot of Team USA basketball and that was a special one.”
None more special than Curry, just one point shy of Carmelo Anthony’s U.S. Olympic single-game record. They needed every one of them.
“That was a godlike performance,” gushed Kevin Durant, who will look to break a tie with Anthony and win a men’s record fourth gold Saturday.
6It was still 78-67 with just 7:20 left, until LeBron James (16 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists) found Durant for a 3-pointer.
That sparked a 28-13 run to end the game, and clinch a gold medal date with host France, a rematch of the Tokyo final.
“It’s one of the greatest basketball games I’ve ever been a part of,” Team USA coach Steve Kerr said. “[Serbia] were perfect. They played a perfect game. Our coaches were saying Villanova-Georgetown, for all of our older readers and viewers out there.”
But unlike that memorable 1985 NCAA Final, this time the favorite escaped.
“They played the perfect game, and they forced us to reach the highest level of competition that we could find,” Curry said. “And our guys were incredible in that fourth quarter, and they got it done.”
James had just the fourth triple-double in Olympic history, and helped Embiid on Jokic late. Embiid added 19 points and his best effort against the Nuggets star.
After Jokic’s gravity and passing helped Serbia hit 15 3-pointers through the first three quarters, Team USA held them without a 3 in the pivotal fourth.
Team USA only led for 3:25. But they were the only minutes that mattered.
After having routed the same foe twice in the past month — a 105-79 win in a July 17 tuneup and a 110-84 laugher in group stage play — there was a worry of Serbia sandbagging. And early on, the fears looked well-founded.
Jokic had sat nine minutes in that group stage tilt, and Team USA built up the entire 26-point margin with him off the floor.
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On Thursday, Jokic barely rested, with 17 points, 11 rebounds, a block and a steal in 38 brilliant minutes.
Curry had 14 of Team USA’s first 15 points for a quick two-point lead. But they coughed up a 7-0 run and trailed 31-23 after one.
When Team USA surrendered an 11-2 blitz to open the second, they trailed by 17.
Vasilije Micic banked in a 3-pointer, then found Jokic for an and-one. Team USA was down 42-25 with 6:25 left in the half, and they still trailed by 11 late.
It was a mountainous hill to climb, but Team USA did it by closing with a 28-13 run.
After pulling within 84-80, Embiid hit a fade over Jokic. James tied it on a drive with 3:43 left, and it was fittingly Curry who gave them the lead for good.
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6His 3 bounced up and in for an 87-86 edge with 2:24 to play, and they never trailed again.
“Perseverance, hard work, dedication, Chef Curry and Joel ‘Process’ Embiid,” James said. “Big-time win for us. We knew we were going to be challenged.
We knew it was going to be the toughest game to date. Total effort.”
