Crew USA males’s basketball has captured its fifth consecutive gold medal. Stephen Curry, LeBron James and Kevin Durant led the Individuals to a 98-87 victory in opposition to host nation France to win gold on the 2024 Paris Olympics on Saturday. It was a tense gold medal recreation in entrance of a raucous pro-France crowd at Bercy Enviornment in Paris, however Crew USA by no means trailed within the second half and Curry put the sport away with a mesmerizing 3-point flurry. Victor Wembanyama made life tough for the Individuals, scoring a team-best 26 factors within the greatest recreation of his life thus far.
France reduce the Crew USA result in three factors within the closing minutes, however then Curry answered. The very best shooter in basketball historical past hit a startling 4 3-pointers in a two-minute span that gave the Individuals the respiration room they wanted within the closing moments. Curry completed with 24 factors on 8-for-12 3-point capturing in opposition to France after scoring 36 and hitting 9 3s in opposition to Serbia.
It is the primary Olympic gold medal for Curry, who by no means appeared within the Video games till this summer season.
“This was a test. Obviously France in their home building, you knew they weren’t going to quit,” he informed NBC after the sport. “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.”
Crew USA hit 18 3-pointers within the gold medal recreation, capturing 50% from past the arc. That stage of 3-point capturing helped the Individuals overcome 17 turnovers. Durant had 15 factors in opposition to France as he gained his fourth gold medal (changing into the primary males’s participant to take action) and James added 14 factors, 10 assists and 6 rebounds.
Guerschon Yabusele aided Wembanyama with 20 factors for France, together with a poster dunk over James within the second quarter. France hung round all recreation, however the crew hit simply 30% of its 3-pointers.
Serbia gained the bronze medal over Germany earlier on Saturday. This is a have a look at all the lads’s basketball medal winners of the twenty first century.
This story was initially printed by CBS Sports activities on Aug. 10, 2024.
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