PARIS — The U.S. was in trouble against Serbia, whose Olympic gold medal streak looked set to end at four.
Then, the U.S. tightened its defense, found timely scoring and beat Serbia 95-91 in Thursday’s semifinals.
After beating Serbia twice in the past three weeks — once in a friendly and once in group play at the Summer Games — the U.S. needed a huge fourth-quarter comeback to pull out the win and advance to the gold medal game against France. The United States is on course for its fifth straight Olympic gold.
“We knew it was going to be tough,” LeBron James said postgame. “We know Serbia are going to give us everything they have
USA outscored Serbia 76-63 in the fourth quarter and outplayed Serbia possession by possession. Kevin Durant and Devin Booker started the comeback with back-to-back 3-pointers early in the fourth quarter, and America unloaded its offensive firepower.
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The USA used a 24-8 run to take a 91-86 lead with 1:41 left in the fourth quarter.
Steph Curry scored 36 points on 12-for-19 shooting for Team USA, as the USA needed its scoring to play its best game of the Olympics. James continued his stellar Olympic play and recorded a triple-double with 16 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists and Joel Embiid added 19 points.
“It’s just a matter of time before he gets one of these games,” James said of Curry. “We can see it every day, he puts in a lot of work not to want this type of game, we wouldn’t want it any other way.
“It was the perfect time for the chef to come out and do what he did.”
Serbia developed a fantastic game plan and made shots, including 15 3-pointers. Three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic had 17 points and 11 assists, and Bogdan Bogdanovic had 20 points.
Team USA enters the fourth quarter
PARIS – The U.S. briefly cut Serbia’s double-digit lead to a two-possession game – seeing Serbia’s lead grow to 76-63 after three quarters.
The U.S. has 10 minutes to make up the deficit in the semifinals if it wants to win a fifth consecutive Olympic gold medal.
American guard Steph Curry was hot and scored 27 points. Bogdan Bogdanovic and Aleksa Avramovic each had 15 points, and Nikola Jokic had 11 points and 10 assists as Serbia shot 15-of-30 from 3-point range.
Halftime: Serbia 54, USA 43
PARIS – After suffering its biggest deficit of the Olympics in the first half against Serbia, the United States now faces its toughest test in the final two quarters of this semi-final.
Serbia led 54-43 in the second quarter and led 42-25. Strong 3-point shooting put Serbia in a good spot. It made 10-of-19 3-pointers and shot 54% from the field.
The American offense wasn’t bad — 48% from the field, 47% on 3-pointers — but it couldn’t keep up with Serbia’s shooting.
Steph Curry scored 17 of his 20 points in the first quarter, and LeBron James finished the half with nine points, five assists and three rebounds. Joel Embiid has seven points and Jrue Holiday has five assists. Kevin Durant took just one shot in the first half and went scoreless. The second half will be worth watching as America tries to reduce the deficit.
Aleksa Avramovic had a team-high 15 points and made four 3-pointers for Serbia. Bogdan Bogdanovic added 12 points and three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic had nine points, seven assists and three rebounds.
The U.S. is down big, entering Serbia against the danger zone
PARIS — The United States trailed Serbia 42-25 with 6:24 left in the second quarter and found themselves in a dangerous spot. It was the biggest American deficit of the Olympics, and the Americans were shooting just 40% from the field, allowing 63% shooting.
Serbia lead 31-21 at the end of the first quarter
PARIS – Overcame the hot shooting of Steph Curry to take a 31-23 lead against the USA after one quarter.
Curry made five of his first six shots for 14 points and finished the quarter with a game-high 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting, including 5-of-7 3s. But Serbia countered Curry’s shooting with five 3-pointers in the quarter. Only four players have scored for the U.S. and only Curry has more than one make.
Aleksa Avramovic had eight points and Nikola Jokic had nine assists on 11 shots for Serbia with six points and five assists.
Steph Curry is hot but Serbia is up early
PARIS — Steph Curry scored 14 of the United States’ first 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting. He made four of five 3s to start the game, but Serbia led 23-18 with 3:45 left in the first quarter.
Serbia torches the nets on the 3-pointer: 5-for-6 to start the game.
USA Basketball Lineup vs Serbia
USA:
- Jury vacation
- Step curry
- LeBron James
- Joel Embiid
- Devin Booker
Serbia:
- Nikola Jokic
- Bogdan Bogdanovic
- Ognje Dobric
- Fili Petruchev
- Alexa Avramovic
Attendance for USA vs Serbia
- Adam Friday
- Travis Scott
- Pau Gasol
- Dirk Nowitzki
- Carmelo Anthony
- Tony Parker
- Yannick Noah
- Chu bird
- Megan Rapinoe
LeBron wearing a bandage in warmups
PARIS – LeBron James wears a large Band-Aid near his left eye during warmups ahead of their semifinal game against Serbia.
James took a left elbow to the eye of Brazil’s Jorginho de Paula with 5:41 left in the third quarter and the U.S. took a 74-51 lead into Tuesday’s quarterfinal game. James said he was fine after the game.
USA vs Serbia Predictions
The US men’s 5×5 basketball team will play Serbia for the third time in three weeks in the semifinals. The United States beat Serbia 105–79 in a friendly on July 17 and beat Serbia 110–84 on July 28 in the first game of Group C play.
“Serbia is very good.” US coach Steve Kerr said. “We can’t sleep because we beat them twice. We have to be ready for their best effort. We have to think about what they are going to do differently.
Serbia’s success revolves around two players — three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic and shooting guard Bogdan Bogdanovic. The U.S. wants to cut off Jokic’s passing lanes and keep Serbia from making too many 3s.
With its list, the United States will put points. It gets enough stops to decide its success in the semi-finals. It was another important game for American big men Joel Embiid, Anthony Davis and Bam Adebayo.
Predictions:
Jeff Zilkit: USA 91, Serbia 77
And then the clouds: USA 83, Serbia 70
2004 Teammates LeBron James and Diana Taurasi won gold
They joke that they are grandparents Team USA? I was there. What do some of the most experienced players in these games have to say about these guys? They’ve heard it before. They are USA Basketball’s elder statesman and statesman, longtime pillars en route to their third and sixth gold medals, respectively.
James and Taurasi’s Olympic connection is unique because they both made their Olympic debuts in Athens in 2004. James was 19 at the time, and Tarasi was 22. Taurasi is quick to point out that James “skipped a couple.”
– Lindsay Schnell
What channel is USA Basketball on today?
USA and Serbia kick off at 3 p.m. USA Network televised the game. The game will be broadcast live Peacock Or Fubo.
USA Men’s Basketball Schedule
Here are the sports the American men have played so far.
Team USA men’s basketball roster
- Steph Curry, Golden State Warriors
- Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves
- LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers
- Kevin Durant, Phoenix Suns
- Derrick White, Boston Celtics
- Tyrese Halliburton, Indiana Pacers
- Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics
- Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers
- Jrue Holiday, Boston Celtics
- Bam Adebayo, Miami Heat
- Anthony Davis, Los Angeles Lakers
- Devin Booker, Phoenix Suns
Olympic Basketball Bracket
Here is the latest men’s basketball Olympic bracket.
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