PARIS: The United States won a fifth straight Olympic men's basketball crown on Saturday, holding off struggling France 98-87 to increase its Olympic gold medal haul to 17.
In a rematch of the Tokyo Olympics final three years ago, LeBron James and an American team loaded with NBA stars again proved too much for France, despite the efforts of sensational NBA Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama.
France cut a 14-point deficit to three 3 minutes 04 seconds to play on Wembanyam's layup dunk, but Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry drilled a 3-pointer — one of four from him with less than three minutes remaining — and the United States relentlessly propelled until goals.
Stephen Curry celebrates with an American flag. (REUTERS)
Curry finished with eight 3-pointers — including a rainbow over a leaping Wembanyama — and led the U.S. scoring with 24 points.
“You just wonder,” James said of Curry. “If you have him on your side, you just try to stop and come up with other ways at the other end, but you keep finding him, getting him the ball.
Curry said of his late-game heroics, “I was just trying to settle us down.”
“All we wanted to do was get a good shot,” Curry said. “It's been a while since we've had a good property.
“(Finally) momentum was on our side. At that moment, your mind goes blank. You don't really care about the setting or the script or anything. It's just a shot.”
Kevin Durant and Devin Booker each added 15 points, and James had 14 with six rebounds, 10 assists, a steal and a block.
It was an American men's record fourth Olympic gold for Durant. James earned his third and Curry, a four-time NBA champion, earned his first in his first Olympic appearance.
“There's a lot of relief,” Curry said. “It wasn't easy, but damn, I'm excited, man. This is everything I wanted it to be and more, so I'm excited.”
Wembanyama had his best offensive game of the Olympics, scoring 26 points. Guerschon Yabusele added 20.
France made just nine of 30 three-point attempts and the United States held a 31-9 edge in fast break points.
Both teams were defensive in a tense first half with 10 lead changes.
Wembanyama soared for the dunk that gave France an 11-10 lead and sent the Bercy Arena crowd into a frenzy.
Victor Wembanyama of France in action. (REUTERS)
The Americans were soon back in front when Booker dropped a behind-the-back pass from James and a steal from James set up Jayson Tatum for a dunk.
After one quarter, France took a 25-24 lead against Bilal Coulibaly, but the USA continued to benefit in transition from French misses.
James drove through traffic for a layup, drew a foul and bent over the U.S. bench before making a free throw to put the United States up 37-31 for a 49-41 halftime lead.
The dream finale attracted a number of lights. French President Emmanuel Macron was in the house, as was sprint star Sha'Carri Richardson, a day after she anchored the US 4x100m relay team to gold.
James made his intentions known early, stepping onto the court in golden boots and opening the scoring with a dunk.
Curry, who scored 36 points in a come-from-behind semifinal win over Serbia, got hot in the second half and gave the U.S. its biggest lead of the game, 61-47, with three points early in the third.
France kept up the pressure and trailed by only six heading into the fourth quarter, only to have to watch the American players celebrate at the end, draped in flags.
A dejected Wembanyama could only hug his teammates, but with the silver medal around his neck, he described the experience as “unbelievable” and said he would try to return the favor in Los Angeles in 2028.
“I'm going for gold in four years,” he said.
Earlier on Saturday, Serbia won bronze with a dominant 93-83 victory over world champions Germany.
Three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic had a triple double of 19 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists to lead Serbia, which lost to the United States 95-91 in the semifinals.
