Led by Steph Curry, Joel Embiid and LeBron James, Team USA staged a wild comeback on Thursday to beat Serbia by 17 points in the Olympic semifinals.
Curry scored 36 points in the win after James and Durant led Team USA to Thursday’s semifinals. The USA will now face France in the gold medal game in Paris on Saturday.
The last time the United States and Serbia met, the United States won 110-84 in the group stage on July 28. Thursday’s game was much closer.
Here’s a recap of how the United States came back, defeated Serbia and advanced to the gold medal game.
The USA beat Serbia 95-91, completing a wild comeback with a 17-point lead. Kevin Durant made a spectacular jump shot with 34 seconds left.
Steph Curry was incredible all night, scoring 36 points, the most of the game and just one point shy of Carmelo Anthony’s U.S. single-game scoring record.
The USA will face France for the gold medal in Paris on Saturday.
Steph Curry will cross the finish line with the Americans two points ahead and 8.2 seconds remaining.
Steph Curry’s great day continues: He sank a three-pointer to give the USA an 87-86 lead late in the fourth quarter.
LeBron James and Curry then followed up with two consecutive layups and the USA led 91-86 with 1:41 left.
The USA scored 18 more points than Serbia in the fourth quarter and staged a wild comeback.
Joel Embiid scored seven points in a row for the US team and LeBron James equalized with a layup to make it 84-84 with 3:39 minutes left.
The United States has come back to set new standards.
The USA is in a basket.
Joel Embiid hit a jump shot and then blocked at the other end, and the USA cut the lead to 84-82. Embiid scored the USA’s final seven points.
Team USA is not finished yet.
Kevin Durant and Devin Booker just sank two three-pointers in a row, and the USA trails 78-73 with seven minutes left in the fourth quarter.
Kevin Durant, a key figure for Team USA today, made just 1 of 6 shots and scored just two points. Anthony Edwards, the team’s leading scorer, also scored just two points today.
Guduric hit a three-pointer while drawing a foul from Derrick White and then converted the ensuing free throw. Serbia goes into the fourth quarter with a 76-63 lead.
The USA is in serious trouble. Serbia is making an incredible 15 of 30 three-point shots.
Jrue Holliday hit a 3-pointer and Anthony Davis made a fall put-back, and the U.S. cut Serbia’s lead to 67-61 late in the third quarter.
Serbia’s 3-point salvo continues, they have now sunk 13 of 26 three-point shots.
Steph Curry has reacted and is almost single-handedly keeping the USA alive with 27 points from 8 3-shots.
The United States goes into halftime trailing Serbia 54-43.
Steph Curry scored 20 points with six 3-pointers, the highest score of the game.
LeBron James has nine points, five assists and three rebounds.
Serbia made 10 of 19 three-point shots. Avramovic led his team in scoring with 15 points. Bogdanovic had 12 points. Jokic had nine points and seven assists.
Serbia brought a special attitude in the second quarter and Team USA responded.
After LeBron James hit a three-pointer, Joel Embiid threw a monstrous dunk and reduced Serbia’s lead to 47-37.
Bogdanovic sank a three-pointer to extend Serbia’s lead to 47-32. After the shot, he appeared to stare down and taunt Carmelo Anthony. LeBron James and members of Team Serbia exchanged a few words after the game.
After a timeout, James scored a three-pointer with three minutes left to play, increasing the score to 47:35.
Joel Embiid was booed every time he touched the ball, but he made a three-pointer from the corner and the USA are now on a 7-0 run.
In transition, LeBron James found Devin Booker in the zone with a nice rebound, and Booker hit the layup while drawing the foul on a play the United States desperately needed.
Nikola Jokic is celebrated as MVP in Paris.
Jokic blocked LeBron James at the basket and then dropped a layup at the other end while drawing a foul. He also hit the free throw to extend Serbia’s lead to 17, 42-25.
Steve Kerr and Team USA get into serious trouble early on.
Everything is going well for Serbia, including a three-pointer from Avramovic. Serbia leads 39-25.
LeBron James, still with a bandage over his face, has returned to the game.
The Serbian offensive encounters no resistance from the USA and leads 31:23 at the end of the first quarter.
Serbia has made 11 of 17 shots and its offense has been balanced, with three players scoring at least five points so far. That’s the most points Serbia has scored in a quarter at these Olympics.
In the USA, however, Steph Curry was the best player. He scored 17 points and made 5 of 7 three-point shots. However, apart from Curry, the US national team only made 1 of 8 shots.
For a second, it looked more like Anthony Edwards was playing volleyball when he hit a shot attempt into the crowd at the end of the first quarter.
Nikola Jokic already has six points and five assists, and the Serbian offense is taking it to the Americans.
Bogdanovic has seven points and Avramovic has the most points on his team with eight points.
LeBron James got in on the action and hit a three-pointer from the elbow, but the Serbian team’s offense met little resistance from the Americans, and Serbia leads 23-18.
This game was characterized by a much higher offensive pace than the last encounter.
Remember Steph Curry’s patented three-pointer where he doesn’t even look as the ball goes through the net? That has now reached the Olympic stage. Curry has an absurd 14 points midway through the first quarter.
Curry scored 14 of the USA’s first 15 points.
Steph Curry is in absolutely top form.
Curry just hit two three-pointers in a row and scored 11 points early on. The Serbian team weathered the Curry storm well and leads 13-12 in the first quarter.
The United States has been waiting for Steph Curry to find his shot in his first Olympics, and today he hit his first shot of the day as the Americans try to get him going.
After a few attacks, Curry missed a three-pointer, but after an offensive rebound he converted a three-pointer and scored the first five points of the game for the US team.
Below you will find some pre-game information.
LeBron James wears a bandage on his face before the game against Serbia: Olympic update
While warming up before the semi-final match against Serbia, LeBron James wears a large bandage near his left eye.
With 5:41 minutes left in the third quarter of Tuesday’s quarter-final match, James received a left elbow in the eye area from Brazilian Georginho De Paula.
When does the USA basketball team play against Serbia today?
The U.S. national team will play against Serbia on Tuesday, August 8, at 3:00 p.m. ET at the Bercy Arena in Paris.
What TV channel is the USA basketball team on today?
The game will be broadcast on USA Network. You can stream the game on Peacock, NBCOlympics.com, the NBC app, and the NBC Olympics app.
Schedule for the knockout round and medal round of men’s basketball at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris
Semi-final: Thursday, August 8
- Game 1: France vs Germany at 11:30 a.m. (USA Network, Peacock, NBCOlympics.com)
- Game 2: USA vs. Serbia at 3 p.m. (USA Network, Peacock, NBCOlympics.com)
Medal round: Saturday, August 10
- Bronze medal match: Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2 at 5 a.m. (USA Network, Peacock, NBCOlympics.com)
- Gold medal match: Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2 at 3:30 p.m. (NBC, Peacock, NBCOlympics.com)
Statistics for the USA basketball team
After four games, Anthony Edwards is the USA’s top scorer with 67 points. Kevin Durant has a total of 59 points and LeBron James has 55 points. Each of the three has had one 20-point game in the tournament.
Devin Booker (49 points) is the other American with a double-digit average. Anthony Davis has the most points on the team with 29 rebounds and 38 points.
One player who has not yet got going on offense is Stephen Curry, who has only made 5 of 20 three-pointers and scored a total of 29 points.
How many Olympic gold medals has LeBron James won?
LeBron James has won two gold medals and a bronze medal in three previous Olympic Games. He was part of a group of younger players who didn’t get many minutes at the 2004 Olympics, when the U.S. team lost in the semifinals and had to settle for a bronze medal. James then became one of the leaders of the Redeem team that won gold in 2008 and was again one of the leaders of the gold medal team in 2012.
How many Olympic gold medals has Kevin Durant won?
Kevin Durant is also taking part in the Olympic Games for the fourth time after winning a gold medal at each of the last three Summer Games.
How many Olympic Games has Stephen Curry participated in?
Believe it or not, this is Steph Curry’s first Olympic appearance. He is one of two NBA MVPs making their Olympic debut for Team USA. Joel Embiid is the other.
Olympic squad of the US men’s basketball team
- Bam Adebayo, Miami Heat
- Devin Booker, Phoenix Suns
- Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors
- Anthony Davis, Los Angeles Lakers
- Kevin Durant, Phoenix Suns
- Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves
- Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers
- Tyrese Haliburton, Indiana Pacers
- Jrue Holiday, Boston Celtics
- LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers
- Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics
- Derrick White, Boston Celtics
