Paris – Steph Curry’s Late sportsmanship And the lightning-quick American transition attack ended France’s storybook basketball Saturday night.
The U.S. continued to miss French turnovers and fast-break points, and Curry scored 24 points in a 98-87 U.S. victory in the men’s basketball gold medal game.
It was the fifth consecutive Olympic title for the Americans.
Kevin Durant and Devin Booker both added 15 points and LeBron James added 14 points for the winning Americans. A devastating American fast break attack was the difference as the USA held a 31-9 lead in transition points.
France closed to within 82-79 in the fourth game of Curry’s charge, hitting four 3-pointers in the final three minutes as the USA pulled away to victory.
Curry teased his “night, night” to the Percy Arena fans.
“I’m blessed,” Curry, a first-time Olympian, told NBC after the game. “It ranks very high in terms of the excitement and sense of relief of getting to the finish line.”
The NBA’s all-time leading 3-point shooter said he doesn’t hesitate to take late jumpers.
“I know if I get to my spot … I can knock it down,” he said.
American boss Steve Kerr, Curry’s 9-for-5 kick as Golden State’s coach, called Saturday’s game one of the sharpshooter’s finest hours.
Kerr said of his star player, who led Golden State to four NBA titles.
“The shot making was incredible,” Kerr said. “But in the circumstances, you know, on the road, in Paris, for the gold medal against France. It’s storybook stuff, but that’s what Steph does. He wants to be in the storybooks.
The American win elevated Curry to an elite club. He is one of nine players to have won an NBA championship ring, regular season MVP honors, Finals MVP award and an Olympic gold medal.
That group included Curry, his Team USA teammates James and Durant, and Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant, Hakeem Olajuwon and Shaquille O’Neal.
Even if the U.S. enters any international tournament with the most talented talent, victory is not a given.
“When you’re a coach, you try to help them, but we have the most unbelievable players. They’ve all been so selfless through this whole thing, through all the noise, all the pressure,” Kerr said.
“I think we’re probably the only team in the world where the fans would be embarrassed if we got a silver medal, you know, that’s the pressure we’re under,” he said. “But our players – you saw Steph – they love the pressure. They appreciate this situation and they were fantastic.”
NBA Rookie of the Year and San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama paced France with 26 points.
The French crowd, who had been chanting “alles les bleus” throughout the game, cheered Vembanyama warmly as he left the ground.
Most of the fans in the Percy Arena stayed for the medal ceremony to applaud the French team once again. After the French players received their silver medals, fans preemptively signed the national anthem, “La Marseillaise.”
Earlier, in the bronze medal game, Nikola Jokic’s triple double helped Serbia beat Germany 93-83. Jokic had 19 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists as Serbia shook off its heartbreaking semifinal loss to USA.
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