Stephen Curry's Late Three Point Barrage Leads Team USA to 98-87 Olympic Gold Medal Game Win Over France
"What is easy is seldom excellent."--Samuel Johnson
Stephen Curry scored a team-high 24 points--including 12 points in the final 2:47--as Team USA held off a resilient France to win 98-87 and earn a fifth straight Olympic gold medal game victory. The 11 point final margin belies how competitive this contest was. Team USA was clinging to an 82-79 lead with 3:09 left in the fourth quarter after Victor Wembanyama's putback dunk, but then Curry hit four three pointers in a 2:12 span to save the day. Curry had a game-high +20 plus/minus number and five assists. In the first four games of the Olympics, Curry scored just 29 points and he only shot 5-20 (.200) from three point range, but in two games of medal round play versus Serbia and France he tallied 60 points while shooting 17-26 (.654) from beyond the arc.
Kevin Durant--who started for the first time for Team USA in 2024--added 15 points, four rebounds, and four assists. He is the first American male basketball player to win four Olympic gold medals. Devin Booker also scored 15 points, and he had six rebounds, three assists, and the game's second best plus/minus number (+18).
LeBron James capped off an excellent Olympics with another great all-around performance, scoring 14 points, grabbing six rebounds, and dishing for a game-high 10 assists. He joined Curry and Booker as the only players with double digit plus/minus numbers (+17). James averaged 14.2 ppg, 6.2 rpg, and 8.5 apg in the 2024 Olympics, earning MVP honors for the event. James headlines an Olympics All-Star Five that includes Curry, Victor Wembanyama (France), Nikola Jokic (Serbia), and Dennis Schroder (Germany).
No other American player scored in double figures, but Anthony Davis had an impact with eight points, a game-high nine rebounds, and a game-high four blocked shots.
Only four Team USA players played at least 20 minutes: James (32), Durant (31), Curry (30), and Booker (28). Derrick White and Tyrese Haliburton did not play. Haliburton never had a significant role for Team USA, but White ranked sixth on Team USA in minutes played during pool play before falling out of the rotation in medal round play.
Joel Embiid started at center alongside James, Durant, Curry, and Booker, but he finished with just four points in 11 minutes. He did not make a field goal, and he spent much more time on the bench inciting the French crowd than on the court contributing to the win. His decision to play for Team USA instead of France turned out well for him, and he can thank Curry, Durant, James, and Booker for adding a gold medal to a trophy case that is otherwise bereft of team championships. Considering his lack of productivity versus France, it would have been hilarious if the fans had chanted at him in French the familiar taunt that is directed toward players who are helping the opposing team at least as much as they are helping their own team: "He with us!"
Jayson Tatum's playing time--or lack of playing time--has been a big story, and in the gold medal game he scored two points in 11 minutes with a -5 plus/minus number. He is one of the five best players in the NBA, but he did not fit in with Coach Steve Kerr's game plan or rotation.Victor Wembanyama scored a game-high 26 points on 11-19 field goal shooting. Guerschon Yabusele muscled his way to 20 points on 6-14 field goal shooting. Nando De Colo was the only other French player who scored in double figures (12 points). Evan Fournier runs hots and cold as a shooter, and in this game Team USA held him to eight points on 3-10 field goal shooting. France's rotations and substitution patterns were interesting, to put it mildly. Nic Batum played 25 minutes--third most on the team--despite having a plus/minus number (-20) that was -11 worse than any other French player. He led France in rebounding (eight rebounds) and assists (four) so he was productive, but when he was in the game France hemorrhaged points. In contrast, Rudy Gobert played just 12 minutes despite having a +3 plus/minus number. Plus/minus numbers can be noisy in small sample sizes, but Gobert had a positive impact with his defense, rebounding, and screen setting, so a case could be made that he earned more playing time.
In the past several years, France has consistently proven to be a worthy opponent for Team USA. Team USA beat France 87-82 in the gold medal game of the 2020 Olympics (played in 2021) after losing to France 83-76 in the first game of pool play. France also defeated Team USA 89-79 in the 2019 FIBA World Cup.
This game proved to be no different, as it was competitive from the jump ball until the final buzzer.
James opened the scoring with a two-handed fast break dunk, and Wembanyama answered with a three pointer. Team USA led 12-11 at the 4:52 mark of the first quarter when the first substitutions were made, including Davis checking in for Embiid, and Fournier and Gobert entering for France. Tatum checked in for Durant at the 4:12 mark, when the score was still 12-11.
Team USA led 20-15 at the end of the first quarter while holding France to 1-9 three point field goal shooting, and Team USA extended that margin to 24-17 on two inside baskets by Davis. France countered with an 8-0 run to go up, 25-24. James put Team USA up 26-25 with a driving layup, but Team USA was not able to pull away. Yabusele cut Team USA's lead to 40-36 by posterizing James and then completing the three point play after James was called for a blocking foul. Team USA countered with a Curry three pointer followed by Booker's fast break layup and free throw after being fouled on the drive. Team USA led by double digits (46-36) for the first time. Yabusele's layup off of a Wembanyama feed just before the halftime buzzer trimmed Team USA's lead to eight, 49-41.
Yabusele led France with 15 first half points, while Wembanyama had 13 points, five rebounds, and two assists. Booker was Team USA's only double figure scorer (13 points). James had seven points, five rebounds, and two assists. Team USA shot 9-20 (.450) from three point range in the first half while holding France to 3-16 (.188) three point field goal shooting.
Team USA began the third quarter with a 7-2 run in less than two minutes, and eventually widened the lead to 14 points (61-47), but just when it seemed like Team USA might pull away, Wembanyama hit a three pointer to pull France to within 65-56 at the 4:05 mark. After a timeout, both teams had multiple empty possessions before Fournier's three pointer cut Team USA's lead to 65-59. James answered with a three pointer to put Team USA up 68-59, and Team USA soon pushed the lead to 72-61, but France scored five points in the final 23 seconds to trail just 72-66 heading into the fourth quarter. Team USA had seven turnovers in the third quarter.
Curry did not score in the first 7:13 of the fourth quarter before pouring in 12 of Team USA's 26 fourth quarter points. Team USA led 80-69 with less than seven minutes to go but could not sustain their double digit lead. For most of the fourth quarter, Team USA's offense featured sloppy ballhandling and missed shots, and France had outscored Team USA 13-10 in the final stanza before Curry heated up.
Team USA won the rebounding battle 37-33, but committed 17 turnovers compared to France's 13 turnovers. The key, as is often the case for Team USA in FIBA competitions, was that Team USA held France to 9-30 (.300) three point field goal shooting. As a bonus, Team USA shot 18-36 (.500) from beyond the arc. Curry did most of the long range damage with his 8-12 three point field goal shooting.
Winning a gold medal under any circumstances is a tremendous
accomplishment. Team USA was the prohibitive favorite and in the end
they got the job done--but it is worth remembering that Team USA's
roster included four members of the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team
(James, Durant, Curry, Davis)--and this was almost certainly the last
Olympics appearance for at least three of those four players. If Team USA needs that kind of overwhelming talent advantage on paper just to beat Serbia and France in very competitive games, then what
foundation is Team USA building--either on this roster, or on the U19
and younger teams--for future FIBA success?
Curry's end of the game three point heroics were incredible--he zigged and zagged through France's defense like a video game character--but this is not a sustainable recipe for FIBA success because (1) this is almost certainly his last FIBA competition and (2) no one else can do what he did. If Team USA's formula for future FIBA success is going to be "Keep the game close and have one dude go ballistic for two minutes from three point range" then Team USA is going to struggle to win more gold medals versus countries that play team ball instead of hero ball. The formula for sustained FIBA success for Team USA is putting together a roster that plays stifling defense and then turns those defensive stops into transition scoring opportunities. It is fine--but not necessary--for some of those transition scoring opportunities to be three pointers, but the four late three pointers that Curry made are a testament to his individual greatness, not great game planning or ball movement.
As a Team USA fan, Curry's awesome late game shooting was exciting, but as an analyst/historian I wonder what is Team USA's plan for the future.
Labels: 2024 Olympics, France, Guerschon Yabusele, Joel Embiid, Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Team USA, Victor Wembanyama
posted by David Friedman @ 10:06 PM
7 Comments:
So I was going to raise the question of what happens in 2028 given that this year the gold was won thanks to Durant efficiently scoring consistently, LeBron doing everything at a very high level, and Curry going nuclear in the final two rounds (without which it is likely another 2004), and then at the end you preempted that question.
Whoever would be playing those roles in 2024, would already be known to be capable of it now. But I just don't see who that might be.
None of the other players on the roster are at that level. Then you look around the league, and you still don't see it. Then the question is whether somebody could appear from the upcoming rookie classes. But then you remember that this is FIBA play, in which LeBron himself struggled not just as a rookie in 2004, but even after his third year in the NBA in 2006, i.e. unless the next coming of Wilt Chamberlain appears out of nowhere, there will be no such player. But that is not coming because it is the 2020s, and all the talented kids are known even in junior high.
Meanwhile in 2028 Wembanyama will be in his prime, France has other talented young players too, and should thus have an even better team.
The solution is, of course, to actually try to build a proper team for FIBA play, i.e. don't send a B/C team to the FIBA World Cup, have a consistent roster that learns to play together by spending several summers together (i.e. at the very least bring them together in summer 2026 to play some practice games), focus on defense, etc. Will that be done? Quite doubtful.
other Anon: easy answer -- convince Jokic to play for the US, like Embid did this year! and maybe Doncic too! and Embid again
Embiid should thank his teammates for a gold medal, but his teammates should thank him too as Team USA doesn't beat Serbia in the SF without him.
Team USA didn't need Curry to go off in the final 3 minutes as they were up 11 with 7 minutes left, if they played the final 7 minutes like they did for the first 33 minutes. Curry wasn't much of a factor for the first 37 minutes of the game. I didn't see that much hero ball from Team USA overall, and not Curry at the end of the game. His makes at the end were wide open and usually him spotting up.
Loved James getting posterized. I'm surprised he wasn't crying after it and complaining about the call on him.
To other Anonymous, Jokic had a very subpar game in the SF and definitely not the best player on the court. It's a one-game situation. Bizarre things can often happen especially when officiating is suspect and one team doesn't play with the same rule regularly, like 8-seed Villanova beating Georgetown in the 1985 national championship game once. Georgetown was lights better and actually played great, but Villanova basically played a perfect game.
Anonymous:
USA Basketball has never fully committed to building "a proper team for FIBA play," and that is one reason why Team USA does not dominate FIBA events to the extent that one would expect based on the resumes of the players on Team USA's roster. Team USA is not a team so much as it is a collection of All-Stars.
Anonymous: Embiid sure earned his gold medal by playing great for a few fourth quarter minutes after Jokic received his fourth foul. His basket over Jokic as Jokic backed away to avoid getting his fifth foul was particularly impressive. Only Embiid can score against a defender who is backing away, and you are so right that Embiid made an indispensable contribution to Team USA's gold medal win. We can also just glance at Embiid's long record of great individual and team success in the NBA playoffs to realize the impact that he has on winning.
Or, we can stick with my original premise, which is that he joined a stacked team and can thank the all-time greats for securing a gold medal for him. I choose the latter.
Your take on the gold medal game is equally insightful. Team USA led by three points with less than three minutes to go before Curry scored 12 points in two minutes. You must have a very interesting definition of "wide open" and "spotting up." I never heard those words applied to a player who took numerous dribbles and shot over two defenders. You might want to rewatch (or watch for the first time) Curry's three pointers.
Jokic did not shoot as well as usual, particularly from three point range, but his presence and passing kept Serbia in command for the vast majority of the game. Team USA almost losing to a much inferior opponent might be "bizarre" if it only happened once, but almost losses and actual losses have happened many times in the past 20 years. Also, in contrast to your Georgetown-Villanova example, Serbia did not play a perfect game. If Serbia had made just two more of the open shots that they missed then they would have beaten the team that some people bizarrely insist could beat the 1992 Dream Team (the only team worthy of that name).
If there is no Embiid, Jokic would have his way (again) with Anthony Davis. Jokic is excellent at just about everything he does on the court. Containing him was important to the US wins. Embiid did not appear to be in the best shape coming into these games, unlike some of his teammates. Maybe he hadn't fully recovered from his playoff injuries. Speaking of playoff injuries the Nuggets are in big trouble if Murray plays like he did during the Olympics. Maybe his calf injury is still an issue? If he's not healthy for the start of the year, the KCP/Westbrook decisions could be a huge blunder (if it's not already).
Anonymous:
I am not convinced that Embiid "contained" Jokic, or that Embiid was essential for Team USA's win. Team USA had four members of the NBA's 75th Anniversary team, while Serbia had four players who have any NBA experience. Swap any Team USA player for Jokic, and that game would not have been nearly as close.
I agree that the Nuggets should be concerned about Murray. Losing KCP was obviously not good, but the Nuggets have a budget that they stick to even if they lose talent as a result. They signed Westbrook at a cheap price, and I can't see how that signing would in any way be considered a "blunder."
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