The United States survived a huge scare in the semifinals of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, beating Serbia 95-91 to advance to Saturday’s gold medal game against France.
The U.S. trailed 76-63 at the start of the fourth quarter, but finally found their form in the fourth quarter and were able to close the gap, keeping alive their hopes of winning their fifth consecutive men’s basketball gold medal.
After trailing for most of the game, the USA finally tied the score at 84-84 with 3:39 left in the fourth quarter. Team USA finished the game on an 18-7 run.
The game was marked by Stephen Curry’s dominance. The four-time NBA champion prevented Serbia from pulling away with 17 points in the first quarter. He finished the game with 36 points, the best result of his Olympic career, and hit 9 of 14 three-point shots. He scored five points in the final 2:30 minutes, helping the US team to comeback and avoid an embarrassing defeat.
LeBron James also contributed 16 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists for a triple-double.
Aside from the win, it wasn’t a great game for Boston Celtics fans. For the second time in the tournament, Jayson Tatum didn’t play at all. It was a puzzling move by US coach Steve Kerr (more on that below).
Celtics guard Jrue Holiday was once again in the starting lineup but failed to make much of an impact on either end of the court. His Celtics teammate Derrick White played just 6:46 minutes – the fewest minutes of any player on the court – and did not score a single point.
Holiday was the only Celtics player to play in the fourth quarter, but he only played the final eight seconds of the period.
In total, the three Celtics players combined for just three points with a single hit – a three-pointer from Holiday.
Here is a full summary of the performance of the three Celtics players against Serbia.
Jayson Tatum
Final statistics: Not played
It was a frustrating tournament for Tatum. He didn’t get the playing time that a player of his caliber and Olympic experience deserves.
The decision to use Anthony Edwards instead of Tatum was a poor one by Kerr and could have potentially cost the USA a chance at the gold medal. Edwards made 1 of 3 two-point shots, committed two fouls, committed two turnovers and had a plus-minus of minus-14 in 13:20 minutes of play.
It was baffling that Kerr didn’t have to face Tatum – who was named to the All-NBA first team three years in a row – in the most important game of the tournament so far. The U.S. struggled to score points and didn’t defend the three-point line well for most of the game – and those are two things Tatum does very well.
It remains to be seen whether Tatum will play on Saturday when the gold medal is on the line. It should be noted that when the United States beat France in the gold medal game at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (played in 2021), Tatum scored 19 points in 21 minutes off the bench. He’s a big-game player, and if the U.S. team wants the best possible chance of beating a very good French team, letting Tatum play would be a smart move.
Jrue Holiday
Final statistics: 20 minutes, three points (1 of 2 FG, 1 of 2 3PT, 0 of 0 FT), seven assists, two rebounds, +1 plus-minus
Holiday started again and played well to start the game. He didn’t score a point in the first half, but was the best player with six assists in the first two quarters. Holiday’s only goal was a three-pointer to bring Team USA within six points with 3:20 left in the third quarter.
The U.S. men’s basketball team overcame a deficit to beat Serbia 95-91 in the semifinals on Thursday. The U.S. team will play for the gold medal against France on Saturday at the Olympic Games in Paris.
Derrick White
Final statistics: Seven minutes, zero points (0 of 2 FG, 0 of 2 3PT, 0 of 0 FT), one steal, -16 plus-minus
White entered the game for the first time with 1:42 left in the first quarter. He played 4:09 of the first half, recording zero points (0 of 2 shots), one steal and a plus-minus of minus-9.
White returned to the game with 2:37 left in the third quarter. Unfortunately for the C’s guard, his most impactful contribution during that stretch was a foul on Serbia’s Marko Guduric on a three-point attempt. Guduric hit the three-pointer and the free throw that followed to complete a four-point play and give Serbia a 76-61 lead with 32 seconds left in the third quarter.
White’s seven minutes played and zero points both represent tournament lows for him at the Olympics. He scored at least one basket in each of the first four games.
