On Thursday, a special basketball quarter was played, the likes of which has rarely been seen, and Devin Booker and Kevin Durant of the Phoenix Suns were on the court the entire time at the Olympic Games.
The USA’s legendary 32-15 comeback against Serbia in the fourth period decided a 95-91 final and the basketball gods gave us one last moment to appreciate the current generation of the game.
Stephen Curry’s lead-goal three, LeBron James’ incredible transition finish, and Curry’s transition layup led the team on a 7-0 run in 42 seconds that took the U.S. from a one-point deficit to a five-point lead late in the fourth quarter.
STEPHEN. CURRY. TEAM USA LEADS.#ParisOlympics | 📺 NBC, USA Network and Peacock pic.twitter.com/C4MUUl1v78
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) 8 August 2024
LECAPTAIN AMERICA!
Team USA extends its lead over Serbia. #ParisOlympics
📺 NBC, USA Network and Peacock pic.twitter.com/FvYRv6Mw8f
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) 8 August 2024
After a timeout, Durant forced a backcourt violation on a phenomenal defensive possession. Then, with 45 seconds left and Team USA up by two points, we all knew who to give the ball to. Durant isolated and drilled a midfielder to effectively close out the game.
— Hated (@HatedzsMedia) 8 August 2024
Booker scored six points in 24 minutes, while Durant added nine points in his own 24 minutes. The duo and their team move into Saturday’s gold medal game against France at 12:30 p.m. MST, which is set to have an absolutely wild atmosphere in Paris.
Curry was out of this world with 36 points and was the savior of the game. Right behind him was Joel Embiid’s 19 points, by far his best performance for the Americans. James had a triple-double with 16 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists.
In the preview of this game, we talked about Serbia cashing its tickets from the 3-point line after earning a cracker after several poor shooting performances, sinking five of its first six 3s and 10 in total in the half, where it led by as many as 17 points.
A few offensive rebounds here, a few missed U.S. free throws there, and four turnovers that were unforced errors were enough to put the team down by 11 points at halftime. And it could have been much more if Curry hadn’t scored 17 points in the first quarter.
If you were under the false impression after the U.S. team’s brisk first four games that the Americans were suddenly widening their lead over the opposition, that lead is simply no longer there. Yes, the U.S. has the best team by a wide margin. But against the best of the rest of the teams, that lead is still not big enough to avoid being vulnerable. The U.S. team played a mediocre half, Serbia played a great one, and that was it.
Serbia left a few chances open in the second half and it was only a matter of time before the Americans could capitalize. The first came midway through the third quarter when the Serbs went cold but the U.S. lost the game on three of four possessions, and the other was Durant missing an open three-pointer. It looked like the game was over before Curry and Jrue Holiday sank threes to make it 72-66. Serbia remained composed and extended the lead back to 11 early in the fourth quarter.
Durant and Booker then hit two straight three-pointers to cut the Serbian lead to five, the smallest since the end of the first quarter. Three disastrous offensive rebounds that gave Serbia four free points were offset by five points from Embiid to make it 84-80 with less than five minutes to go. Embiid answered a Jokic basket with an and-one of his own before another Embiid jump shot and a James layup tied the score at 84-84 with 3:41 left, setting the stage for that unforgettable final sequence.
Bogdan Bogdanovic was a wonder, leading the Serbians with 20 points. Durant defended him for most of the fourth quarter, blocking him a couple of times to cool him down. Serbia’s undoing was an offense that wasn’t primarily focused on Jokic, and the two-man actions with point guard Vasilije Micic were also limited by Booker on several possessions. Jokic finished with 17 points, five rebounds and 11 assists.
Serbia’s scoring streak only continued in the third quarter, as they failed to score a three-pointer in the final period after scoring 15 in the first 30 minutes.
The United States closed the rally with Curry, Booker, James, Durant and Embiid. Those are probably the five we’ll see starting on Saturday.
