Anthony Davis and Bam Adebayo celebrate after the United States defeated France to win the gold medal in men’s basketball at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
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The U.S. men’s basketball team won gold at the fifth consecutive Olympic Games with a 98-87 victory over France on Saturday.
Steph Curry came to Team USA’s rescue again, hitting three consecutive three-pointers in the final two minutes of the game. He finished the game with a total of 24 points, hitting 8 of 13 three-pointers.
Kevin Durant and Devin Booker each scored 15 points for the U.S., followed by 14 points, 10 assists and six rebounds from LeBron James. Anthony Davis led both teams with 10 rebounds and four blocks.
Three-point shooting made a big difference in the USA’s gold medal win. As a team, the USA shot 50% (18 of 36) from beyond the three-point line. By comparison, France shot 30% (9 of 30) from behind the three-point line.
Durant won his fourth gold medal, the most in men’s basketball history at the Olympic Games. James also won his fourth Olympic medal with three golds and one bronze.
For the host nation, Victor Wembanyama scored the most points of the game with 26 points and seven rebounds. Guerschon Yabusele followed with 20 and Nando De Colo added 12. Nicolas Batum grabbed eight rebounds.
Here are the full player stats from the game:
Read more about the USA’s gold win from Yahoo Sports’ Dan Wetzel, who was on the scene in Paris.
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Final: USA 98, France 87
The USA wins its fifth consecutive gold medal with a 98-87 victory over France. Steph Curry again leads Team USA to victory with 24 points and three consecutive 3-point shots to decide the game.
LeBron James named FIBA Olympic MVP
LeBron James has now added an Olympic MVP trophy to his three NBA MVP awards.
James averaged 14.2 points, 6.8 rebounds and 8.5 assists during the U.S. team’s six-game run to its fifth consecutive gold medal.
Steph Curry again
Victor Wembanyama hits a three-pointer for France, cutting the USA lead to six. But Steph Curry follows up with a high-flying shot over double coverage for his third three-pointer in a row.
Steph Curry’s three-pointer in a row
Steph Curry comes to Team USA’s aid again.
After France twice cut the USA’s lead to six points, first with a jump shot from Nando De Colo and then with a three-pointer from Nicolas Batum, Curry responded to both goals with three-pointers.
USA 93, France 84, 1:14 remaining.
USA 87, France 79
Kevin Durant makes two free throws after rebounding a missed three-pointer by Victor Wembanyama. The USA extends its lead to eight again and France calls a timeout with 2:22 left in the game.
Big 3 by Steph Curry
France reduces the USA’s lead to three (82:79), Victor Wembanyama deflects his own missed shot.
Steph Curry stopped France’s run with a 3-point shot and restored the USA’s lead to 89-75.
Become careless
The USA and France each have two turnovers, both by LeBron James for the US team.
LeBron then commits a foul after another turnover, this time by Steph Curry, by preventing a dunk by Guerschon Yabusele.
Yabusele converts one of two free throws. France reduces the USA’s lead to 82
Jrue Holiday with another 3 for Team USA
Devin Booker recovers a missed shot by LeBron James and finds Jrue Holiday for a 3-pointer and an 80-69 lead for the USA.
Kevin Durant beats the shot clock with a 3
Kevin Durant tried to get past Mattias Lessort one-on-one before passing to Jrue Holiday. Holiday draws double coverage on himself with Lessort trying to help as the shot clock expires. Holiday passes to Durant for a long 3 as the shot clock expires.
USA 77, France 68.
Third quarter: USA 72, France 66
Evan Fournier hits a 3, followed by a steal and a layup by Nando De Colo. Kevin Durant blocked the shot, but the goalie counted the basket. There are goalie rules under FIBA rules, folks.
The USA goes into the fourth quarter with a lead of 72:66.
Anthony Edwards dunks a lob from Kevin Durant
More from Anthony Davis, who gets a steal and blasts a pass to Kevin Durant. On a two-on-one break, fans knew a lob was coming, and Durant got the ball to Anthony Edwards for a fast-break dunk.
USA 72. France 61.
Anthony Davis makes his presence known
Anthony Davis grabbed an offensive rebound and made a layup, then blocked a shot from Guerschon Yabusele on the other end of the court.
Anthony Davis had a good run at the Olympics, but man, this one was pretty impactful.
France reduced the USA’s lead to 65:56 with a three-pointer from Victor Wembanyama. Time-out for the USA
France could have reduced the deficit to eight points after Steph Curry lost the ball. But Bilal Coulibaly fails to convert a layup. Joel Embiid gets a pass to LeBron James, who makes a dunk.
Victor Wembanyama loses a shoe
It is not known whether or not the French delegation will wear this shoe at the closing ceremony on Sunday.
Technical foul against Anthony Davis
At first it looked like Joel Embiid had received a penalty for messing with Rudy Gobert.
However, the referees called a technical foul against Anthony Davis because he was standing in the corner of the court when the ball was thrown in from the bench.
Pick and Roll by LeBron and Curry
Steph Curry sets a slip screen for LeBron James. When France doubles LeBron, he finds Curry for an open three-pointer. USA 61, France 47, 6:57 remaining in the third quarter.
Curry scored 12 points and made 4 of 8 three-pointers.
