The United States earned its gold medal in men's basketball after a hard-fought and memorable 98-87 victory over France, and much of the credit must go sharpshooting Stephen Curry, who nailed four three-point field goals in a decisive fourth quarter surge.
The superior shooting performance by Curry was essential because France battled hard for 40 minutes and attempted to pull off the upset. Curry scored 24 points in the game, scoring all of his points on three-pointers. The Golden State Warriors guard made 8 of his 12 attempts from beyond the arc.
In addition to helping the United States win its fifth consecutive gold medal in men's basketball, the triumph allowed Curry to join a rare group of superstars who have won the NBA title, NBA MVP, Finals MVP and an Olympic Gold Medal.
The players who have done that include Olympic teammate LeBron James as well as Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Hakeem Olajuwon, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant and Shaquille O’Neal.
The last of Curry's fourth-quarter three-pointers was a fall away jumper from well beyond the arc, and it allowed Curry to deliver a “fall asleep” gesture that indicated the game was out of reach for the home team.
Curry wasn't thinking about the gold medal at the time of the final shot, but just took the shot that came to him.
“At that point your mind goes blank, you don't really care about the setting or the scenario or anything, it's just a shot,” the guard said to ESPN's Brian Windhorst after the game. “Thankfully, that one went in, it's just rhythm and flow and confidence and that was it.”
Stephen Curry was joined by Devin Booker, James and Durant as double-figure scorers for the United States. Booker and Durant scored 15 points each, while James had 14 points and 10 assists.
French star Victor Wembanyama had perhaps the best game of his life as he scored 26 points to lead the silver medalists.
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