Curry closes door on France comeback as Team USA collects another gold medal

Inspirational in the sense that all the major storylines of this year’s Olympic run for the Team USA men’s national group played out on the summer games’ biggest stage.

The Americans pushed past France, 98-87, Saturday, Aug. 10 from the Bercy Arena in Paris. It served as a rematch from the gold medal game in Tokyo back in 2021.

As a result, the country picked up its 35th win in its last 36 games. With the job finished, the United States have earned a fifth straight gold medal, eighth in the last nine tries and 17th overall.

Double-digit lead changes through the first 12-plus minutes on the floor in this one saw the winners begin to pull away just before halftime. A 10-point late second quarter lead was stretched to 14 in the third quarter before a thunderous comeback effort from the host country.

Whenever France made a run to get back into the game, Team USA turned to one of its heavy-hitters. After having the once 14-point lead trimmed to six, NBA all-time leading scorer LeBron James drilled a three-pointer as part of his 12-point night.

James now has won gold medals in 2008, 2012 and 2024 becoming the first male player to accomplish the feat in three different decades.

Most of the responses to France’s come-from-behind tries in the fourth quarter were directly answered by four-time NBA champion Steph Curry. With the lead cut to three, he drilled one of his eight made threes.

Another one came shortly after with the lead at six. This three served as the first of back-to-back trey balls to extend the lead to nine with a minute and 18 seconds left in regulation.

Curry rattled off four of his eight threes in the fourth quarter on his way to 24 points on the night. Over the final two games of the Olympic run, he compiled 60 points and 17 made threes.

Two-time NBA champion Kevin Durant became the first men’s player to capture four gold medals, surpassing the aforementioned James and former teammate Carmelo Anthony. He added 15 points in the win after making his first start of the summer.

Guard Devin Booker scored 13 of his 15 points in the first half with most coming during the back-and-forth portion of the game near the start. He now has gold medals in back-to-back Olympics along with Durant and fellow teammates Jrue Holiday, Jayson Tatum and Bam Adebayo.

Last year’s No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft Victor Wembanyama led all scorers with 26 points on 11-of-19 from the field with three made threes. In his first Olympic run, the San Antonio Spurs center earned a silver medal at just 20 years old.