Team USA basketball had a scare in the Olympic semifinals against Team Serbia on Thursday. The Americans were down by 12 at halftime and as many as 17 before screaming back to a 95-91 win. Los Angeles Lakers and Olympics legend Magic Johnson reacted to the impressive victory on social media.
“Team USA lives on to fight for gold after a tough battle against Serbia!” Johnson posted on X, formerly Twitter. “Steph Curry carried US to a victory scoring 9 threes on his way to 36 points!”
The Americans advance to the Gold Medal Game, where they will take on the host country France. The game is on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. EST. With a win, Team USA would snag their fifth-straight gold medal and eighth in their last nine attempts.
This is the second-straight matchup between Team USA and France for the gold medal. The Americans won 87-82 in Tokyo on the back of 29 points from Kevin Durant. Who has the edge in this year's rematch?
Team USA's matchup against France
The host country has not won the Olympic basketball tournament since the Americans at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. The French are led by 2023 top pick Victor Wembanyama and former Boston Celtic Guerschon Yabusele. The two big men could provide issues for the Americans, whose strength is on the outside.
Team USA is undoubtedly the deepest team at the Olympics. Joel Embiid and Anthony Davis represent a superstar frontcourt that will have to contain the French big men. Rudy Gobert has been coming off the bench for France, representing a potential advantage for the home team.
Steph Curry's performance in the semifinal is exactly why the Americans are the prohibitive favorite. When they are down, they can turn to a multitude of NBA Most Valuable Players to revive their team. Durant recently set the record for points by an American Olympian. LeBron James leads the team in points, but it was Curry who kept the golden dreams alive.
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