Serbia played a brilliant game Thursday (8 August), making the extra pass, attacking the rim with vigor and seemingly knocking down every open three-pointer. Team USA was rendered helpless through the first three-plus quarters and was in real trouble when Nikola Jokic scored a floater with eight minutes, six seconds left for a double-digit lead.
Team USA had beaten Serbia soundly in a friendly last month and in group play 11 days ago, but this was different. Serbia played with no intimidation, matched an early Stephen Curry flurry with its own and eventually took a 15-point lead in the third period.
It was time for dramatics, clutch shots, defensive stops and flawless play and the Americans delivered with a stirring game-ending run that included buckets from Joel Embiid, LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Curry for a thrilling 95-91 win in one of the great Olympic games in recent history.
“Serbia was brilliant today and I’m really humbled to have been a part of this game,” USA coach Steve Kerr said. “One of the greatest basketball games I’ve ever been a part of. Serbia was perfect. They played a perfect game. They forced us to reach the highest level of competition that we could find.”
USA will indeed play France in the gold medal game Saturday.
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LeBron James pays tribute to Stephen Curry
With Serbia tiring and Jokic in foul trouble, Team USA sensed vulnerability, using buckets from Embiid, in his best game of the tournament, and James to tie the game at 84 with three minutes, 20 seconds left.
After a Serbia bucket, Curry gave USA the lead for good with a three-pointer coming off a crushing Embiid screen. James and Curry added buckets for a five-point lead and then Durant added a midrange jumper with 34 seconds left.
Serbia, which hit 15 three-pointers in the first three quarters, missed all nine attempts in the fourth. Team USA made 13 of 17 of its shots in the final period, and Curry was brilliant with 36 points.
“Perseverance, hard work, dedication. It was ‘Chef’ Curry and the ‘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 up to date, but it was a true total effort.”
Team USA knew it would be tested in this tournament but it seemed surprised the challenge came from Serbia. It played flawlessly through three quarters, hitting 15 of 30 three-pointers, using Jokic to pick apart the USA defense with his pinpoint passing while scraping for offensive rebounds and loose balls.
On offense, Team USA was relegated to Curry threes or Embiid jump shots. The Americans were totally out of sync.
“We tried not to get too discouraged,” Durant said. “Late in the third quarter they hit us pretty hard, we got down 15, 14 points, but we just kept pushing. We were able to pressure them, get them to miss shots, and we were out on the break.”
Curry struggled most of the tournament but the best shooter in the world was eventually going to get untracked. He made nine of his 14 three-point attempts and was unstoppable in stretches with his lightning quick release any time he got a sliver of space.
“I haven’t had many opportunities and haven’t shot the ball well the whole tournament, but it doesn’t waver your confidence to meet the moment and I had some great looks to start the game,” Curry said.
“But about two minutes into the game tonight, I realized I’m getting looks. They’re playing a different type of defense on us. I shot three times last game, and I wasn’t looking to force it because that’s not what the game called for. So that’s the beauty of Team USA and FIBA and this whole experience.”
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Serbia show they are not losers
Team USA entered this tournament as the prohibitive favorites and watched as primary competitors Germany and Canada were both eliminated by France. Serbia was so close to ruining the storybook gold medal game between USA and host France. It can only look back at a few plays, such as a missed, wide-open three-point attempt from Ognjen Dobric that would have given Serbia a late five-point lead.
“A couple of easy turnovers, transition buckets, some calls. That is it,” guard Bogdan Bogdanovic said. “I still believe that we could have won this game. It is hard to say anything when you lose. When you lose at the end, that is what it shows. We play for the scoreboard. You can have the best game of your life, but if you lose, you are a loser.
“But I feel we are not losers. We showed we can compete against the best teams in the world and I just wish we won. We did some good things but we lost. In two days we have to recover and fight for the bronze.”
Meanwhile, James, with four NBA championships and two gold medals, was asked to rank Thursday in his pantheon of victories.
“It’s up there,” he said. “I’m 39 years old, going into my 22nd (NBA) season. I don’t know how many opportunities and moments I’m going to get like this to be able to compete for something, compete for something big and play in big games, and tonight was a big game.”
Gary Washburn is an Olympic Channel correspondent and National NBA Writer for the Boston Globe.
