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Gregg Popovich once remarked that basketball was a “pretty simple game”. Sitting in the stands at the Bercy Arena, you could imagine the legendary coach breaking from his icy stare with a grin at the point Steph Curry ensured the USA survived an almighty scare.
It took Curry’s 36 points, with nine of 14 three-pointers made, to deny a spirited Serbia to reach the gold medal match at the Olympics with a 95-91 victory.
Nikola Jokic, the three-time MVP, and his hulking physique, had battered the Americans throughout the majority of this contest, posting 17 points, 11 assists and five rebounds.
The Nuggets star knitted everything together for a Serbian side inspired to produce the game of their lives: They made just seven turnovers and shot 15 three-pointers at an efficient rate of 38.5 percent. For so long a seismic shock looked probable, with Serbia leading by as many as 17 points.
But the USA would not be denied and this dream comeback now sets up a men’s final against a rampant France on Saturday. The hosts’ 20-year-old phenom Victor Wembanyama inspired them past world champions Germany. And Steve Kerr must now contend with the Spurs sensation and all 7ft 4in of his frame. Just ask Dennis Schroder, whose looping three-pointer was denied by ‘The Alien’ and the most ludicrous, outstretched block.
Yes, this is sort of comeback that instils a fierce determination and one that fellow finalists France may have watched with a grimace after their own stirring semi-final victory. This giant of basketball though, packed with Hall of Fame players and superstars on NBA contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars, discovered a steely focus at the death. They were forced to summon something special thanks to Jokic and his cast of sharp-shooters, including Bogdan Bogdanovic and his eight field goals.
But with two minutes and 27 seconds remaining of the fourth quarter, basketball was, indeed, made to look pretty simple.
Down two points and having never led since the first two points of the contest, LeBron James, perhaps the greatest player of all time, had the ball. Scanning his options, the Lakers star appeared eager to find Curry, and why not as the widely-accepted best shooter the game has ever seen. Joel Embiid, hounded by this French crowd with whistles and jeers for his decision to represent the stars and stripes instead of Les Bleus, set the perfect screen, leaving Ognjen Dobric sprawling in desperation. Curry found the pocket of space and launched one of his trademark rainbows to put the USA up by a point at 87-86.
“I haven’t shot the ball well the whole tournament,” Curry said, having shot 10 for 28 to this point and only mustering three attempts at all against Brazil in the quarter-finals. “It doesn’t waiver your confidence, I had some great looks to start the game.
“The one in the fourth quarter, Joel set a great screen, and I was able to knock down a big shot. You live for those moments. We know we’re only ever two possessions away from flipping it and we could feel it.
“There was a point, end of the third quarter, you feel, not, ‘is it our night?’ But more, ‘are they going to slow down at all?’ The first four minutes of the fourth quarter were everything. Our defence will fuel us, we’ll score enough points, but can you get enough stops? For three quarters we didn’t, but then we figured it out.”
James, too, revelled in the added responsibility and a tussle for the ages with Jokic, who had somewhat riled Lakers star after one of his sublime blocks, slapping the ball away as his opponent neared a simple layup.
The 39-year-old produced 16 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists, for only the fourth triple-double in Olympic men’s basketball history. From the Soviet Union’s Alex Below in 1976, his own historic mark at London 2012 and Luka Doncic in Tokyo, it was another footnote to the most extraordinary career.
A decision to return to this stage after a 12-year hiatus must have been considered with moments like this in mind. Ultimate control, having been handed the keys by Steve Kerr, he made all of the right plays in the fourth quarter.
“Two minutes into the game, I realised, I’m getting looks here, they’re playing a different type of defence,” Curry concluded. “Getting lost in the moment, the result shows, it’s whatever the game calls for. I shot three times in the last game, because that is what the game called for.
“That’s the beauty of Team USA and FIBA basketball, every game it’ll be somebody different.
“We’re all in this, man, some more vocally than others, but all of us. From superstars and Hall of Famers on our respective teams and all we have accomplished, but the buy-in is there. It’s the only way to do it to win.”
