Serbia gave USA men’s basketball their biggest scare of the Olympics on Thursday before the Americans rallied for a 95-91 win in the semifinals of the medal round in Paris. The victory secures Team USA a spot in the gold medal game against France on Saturday.
Serbia led by as many as 17 points over the first three quarters behind some red-hot 3-point shooting against a lackluster USA defense. The Americans tightened things up late though, outscoring Serbia 32-15 in the final quarter to earn a 95-91 win that USA a chance at their fifth straight gold medal.
Stephen Curry finished with a game-high 36 points in the victory while LeBron James posted a triple-double (16 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists) to help USA rally from a fourth quarter hole. Bogdan Bogdanovic led the way with 20 points for Serbia while Nikola Jokic had 17 points and 11 assists in the setback for a Serbia squad that will have a chance to earn a bronze medal on Saturday against Germany.
Here are four takeaways from USA’s dramatic win over Serbia on Thursday:
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Jayson Tatum rides the bench: The All-Star forward received his second DNP-CD of the Olympics against Serbia as Steve Kerr stayed away from the Celtics forward along with Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton. The decision earned consistent second-guessing on social media as Serbia punished the Americans with some hot shooting from the perimeter against inferior defenders. Tatum’s spot in the depth chart looked to be in question after he was the 11th man off the bench in Tuesday’s win over Brazil and that was confirmed against Serbia. With some players above him on the depth chart struggling (Anthony Edwards) on Thursday, it will be intriguing to see whether Tatum gets another shot on Saturday.
Celtics guards make a limited impact: Jrue Holiday got a start alongside Stephen Curry but Steve Kerr opted for Kevin Durant over him in crunch time despite Holiday posting seven assists in the win in hopes of securing a more offensive punch in crunch time as USA rallied. Holiday finished with three points in 19 minutes while Derrick White went scoreless in seven minutes, missing both of his 3-point attempts.
Joel Embiid steps up in the fourth quarter: After a dismal performance throughout most of the Olympics, Embiid put on a show when Team USA needed him most in the fourth quarter. Embiid was efficient in the post, going 8-of-11 from the field to score 19 points while holding his ground against Nikola Jokic on the defensive end.
Stephen Curry plays hero to turn back the clock: Curry picked the perfect time to get hot during the 2024 Paris Olympics after a dismal shooting performance in USA’s first four games. Curry scored a game-high 36 points on 12-of-19 shooting with nine of those makes coming from 3-point range. Curry also added eight rebounds in 33 minutes and was a team-best +20 in the win to help USA secure a spot in the gold medal game.
