PARIS: The United States won its fifth straight Olympic men's basketball crown on Saturday, holding off a struggling France 98-87 to take its tally of Olympic gold to 17.
In a rematch of the Olympic final in Tokyo three years ago, LeBron James and the American team of NBA stars once again proved too much for France, despite the efforts of sensational NBA Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama.
France cut a 14-point deficit to three with 3 minutes, 04 seconds to play on Wembanyama's put-back dunk, but Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry drilled a three-pointer — one of four from him with less than three minutes left — and the U.S. relentlessly driven to the finish line.
Stephen Curry celebrates with the American flag. (REUTERS)
Curry finished with eight 3-pointers — including a rainbow over a leaping Wembanyama — and led the United States with 24 points.
“You just marvel,” James said of Curry. “If you have him on your side, you just try to get stops and come up with other ways on the other end, but keep finding him, keep getting him the ball.”
Curry said of his late-game heroics: “I was just trying to calm us down.”
“All we wanted to do was get a good shot,” Curry said. – It has been a while since we had a good possession.
“(Finally) the momentum was on our side. At that point, your mind goes blank. You don't care about the setting or the scenario or anything. It's just one shot.”
Kevin Durant and Devin Booker each added 15 points and James scored 14 with six rebounds, 10 assists, one steal and one block.
For Durant, it was an American men's record fourth Olympic gold. James got his third and Curry, a four-time NBA champion, got his first in his first Olympic appearance.
“It's a lot of relief,” Curry said. “It wasn't easy but damn, I'm excited. This is everything I wanted it to be and more, so I'm excited.”
Wembanyama had his best offensive game of the Olympics, scoring 26 points. Guerschon Yabusele added 20.
France connected on just nine of 30 three-point attempts and the U.S. held a 31-9 advantage in fast break points.
Both teams were locked defensively in a tense first half that featured 10 lead changes.
Wembanyama soared for a dunk that gave France an 11-10 lead and sent the Bercy Arena crowd into a frenzy.
Victor Wembanyama from France in action. (REUTERS)
The Americans were soon back in the lead when Booker made a layup off a behind-the-back pass from James and a James steal set Jayson Tatum free for a dunk.
Down by five after one quarter, France took a 25-24 lead on a Bilal Coulibaly dunk, but the U.S. continued to capitalize on France's misses.
James drove through traffic for a layup, drew a foul and flexed on the U.S. bench before making the free throw to put the U.S. up 37-31, and they led 49-41 at halftime.
The dream final drew a series of luminaries. French President Emmanuel Macron was in the house and so was sprint star Sha'Carri Richardson, a day after she anchored the USA's 4x100m relay to gold.
James signaled his intentions early, taking the court in golden shoes and opening the scoring with a dunk.
Curry, who scored 36 points in the come-from-behind semifinal win over Serbia, heated up in the second half, giving the U.S. its biggest lead of the game, 61-47, with a 3-pointer early in the third.
France continued to press and were down by just six heading into the fourth quarter, but eventually saw the American players celebrate at the end, draped in flags.
A dejected Wembanyama could only hug his teammates, but with the silver medal around his neck, he called the experience “incredible” and said he would try to return the favor in Los Angeles in 2028.
“I will go for gold in four years,” he said.
Earlier on Saturday, Serbia took bronze with a dominant 93-83 victory over World Cup champions Germany.
Three-time NBA Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic posted a triple-double of 19 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists to lead Serbia, which lost 95-91 to the United States in the semifinals.
