The United States won their fifth straight Olympic men’s basketball crown on Saturday, holding off a battling France 98-87 to take their tally of Olympic golds to 17.
In a rematch of the Tokyo Olympics final three years ago, LeBron James and the US team stacked with NBA stars once again proved too much for France’s sensational NBA Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama and his teammates.
France sliced a 14-point deficit to three with 3min 04sec to play, but Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry drilled a three-pointer and Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant nailed two free throws as the United States relentlessly powered to the finish.
Curry finished with eight three-pointers and led the US scoring with 24 points.
Durant and Devin Booker added 15 apiece and James scored 14 with six rebounds, 10 assists a steal and a block.
For Durant it was a record fourth Olympic gold. James earned his third and Curry, a four-time NBA champion, claimed his first in his first Olympic appearance.
Wembanyama had his best offensive game of the Olympics, scoring 26 points. Guerschon Yabusele added 20, but Isaia Cordinier — whose offensive contributions were key to France’s bounce-back after a narrow victory over Japan and a humbling loss to Germany in group play — was held scoreless.
France connected on just nine of 30 three-point attempts and the United States held a 31-9 advantage in fast-break points.
Both teams were locked in 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.
The Americans were soon back in front when Booker made a layup off a behind-the-back pass from James and a steal from James set Jayson Tatum loose for a dunk.
Down by five after one quarter, France took a 25-24 lead on a Bilal Coubilaly dunk, but the US continued to capitalize in transition off of France’s misses.
James drove through traffic for a layup, drawing a foul and flexing at the US bench before making the free-throw to put the United States up 37-31, and they led 49-41 at halftime.
– Dream final –
The dream final drew a raft of luminaries. French President Emmanuel Macron was in the house and so were a bevy of former NBA stars including Scottie Pippen, Pau Gasol, Carmelo Anthony and France’s Tony Parker.
Sprint star Sha’Carri Richardson was courtside, a day after she anchored the US 4x100m relay to gold.
James signalled his intentions early. First out for pre-game warm-ups, he then took the court for the official introductions in golden shoes and opened the scoring with a dunk.
Curry, the 36-point hero of the United States’ come-from-behind victory over Serbia in the semi-finals, got off to a slow start but heated up in the second half.
He drilled a step-back three-pointer over Cordinier and made another to give the US their biggest lead of the game, 61-47, early in the third quarter.
France continued to press. Nando De Colo found Evan Fournier for a three-pointer and De Colo came up with a steal and raced for a layup that pulled France within six. It stood at 72-66 heading into the fourth quarter.
But no matter what France threw at them, the United States found the answer and finished their evening celebrating together at center court draped in US flags.
Earlier Saturday, Serbia won 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, who bounced back less than 40 hours after a heartbreaking 95-91 loss to the United States in the semi-finals.
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