While Team USA easily dispatched Serbia during the group stage of the Olympics, that was far from the case on Thursday. Team USA needed a desperate rally to squeak past Serbia during the Olympics knockout round with Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James helping lead the way with a triple-double. Following the game, James took to social media to reaffirm the team's goal and how close they are to reaching another gold medal.
James posted a few emojis along with the caption, ‘1 more!!' It was also posted with a picture of himself, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant following the comeback win against Serbia. With the win, Team USA advanced to the gold medal game where they will face off against host country France.
LeBron James was crucial in the second half of Team USA's win, helping dictate the pace and act as a facilitator. He finished with 16 points, 12 rebounds and ten assists. He shot 6-of-9 from the field, 2-of-4 from the three-point line and 2-of-3 from the free-throw line.
Team USA trailed by as many 17 points in the game and they faced a 54-43 halftime deficit. But in the fourth quarter, they outscored Serbia, 32-15 to grab the win.
Team USA looking to continue recent Olympics dominance
The last team Team USA failed to win the gold medal at the Olympics was back in 2004 on a team that featured a young LeBron James. That group brought back the bronze medal which prompted the 2008 team, which featured Kobe Bryant's first foray into the Olympics, to be aptly named ‘The Redeem Team.'
Beginning with 2008, the United States has won four straight gold medals. In fact, since NBA players were added beginning with the 1992 Dream Team, 2004 is the only time Team USA has failed to bring home the gold medal in men's basketball.
While Team USA certainly has dominated the competition from that standpoint, they've had some challenges along the way as the rest of the world has seemingly begun to catch up to the United States in basketball. Serbia had four current NBA players on their roster in Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets), Nikola Jovic (Miami Heat), Vasilije Micic (Charlotte Hornets) and Bogdan Bogdanovic (Atlanta Hawks) in addition to two others in Filip Petrusev and Marko Guduric who have NBA experience.
They will square off against France in the gold medal game in what will be a rematch of the 2020 Olympics gold medal game. France features three current NBA players in Victor Wembanyama (San Antonio Spurs), Rudy Gobert (Minnesota Timberwolves) and Nicolas Batum (Los Angeles Clippers). In addition to those three, Evan Fournier, Nando De Colo, Frank Ntilikina and Guerschon Yabusele all have NBA experience. Fournier is currently a free agent after splitting last season between the New York Knicks and Detroit Pistons.
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