5 Lessons Learned: Team USA Comes from Behind to Defeat Serbia in Thrilling Showdown

PARIS (AP) — The stakes are getting higher. Saturday's gold medal game will take place in the most challenging environment ever faced by a USA men's Olympic team, promising a test of their skills and composure like never before.

But no matter what France or their anxious fans hurl at the Americans, can it possibly be harsher a bind that requires extracting the very best from your most accomplished players?

Such was the case for Team USA in a suspenseful semifinal against Serbia, where the heavy favorites were squeezed all night, raising the possibility, however disbelieving it seemed, that the goal and gold wouldn’t be accomplished.

“We knew we would be challenged,” said LeBron James. “We knew it would be our toughest game.”

Ultimately, greatness has a way of rising above it all, no matter how grim. And so there was too much LeBron and Steph Curry and Kevin Durant and Joel Embiid — eight NBA Kia MVP awards coming down on Serbia like an anvil — to restore order.

“One of the greatest basketball games I’ve been a part of,” said USA coach Steve Kerr who, for the sake of context, does own nine NBA championships.

Down by double digits to start the fourth quarter, actually for much of the game … still trailing halfway through the quarter … this team seized the night in the final — whew — 30 seconds.

“Hopefully we have another win on Saturday, and you could look back at this game as the one that challenged us, tested us,” said Curry.

Here are four takeaways after the USA barely sent Nikola Jokic off to chase his other passion — the stables — and a fifth take on France’s emotional elimination of Germany in the other semifinal:

1. A forceful fourth quarter

Anthony Edwards, from his view on the bench, said what everyone inside Bercy Arena was thinking:

“We knew we’d turn it around, we just didn’t know when it would happen.”

Serbia was up 11 at halftime and 13 after three quarters. Gradually, the USA began chopping away at the deficit, getting it under 10, then within five. Clock was ticking, though. Would they run out of time?

Not exactly.

LeBron made a forceful drive to the hoop for a bucket with 3:39 left that flipped the momentum and stole Serbia’s hopes. Once again, in the moment of truth, the ball was in his hands.

“It’s all about being aggressive,” he said. “My teammates believed in me.”

The defense tightened, Serbia panicked for the first time all night — Bogdan Bogdanovic had two costly turnovers — and lost its poise.

“A lot of good positive talk,” is how Curry described the mood. “We had a lot of confidence that we could get the right combination on the floor. You felt the energy. We were two bad bounces or bad possessions away. That first few minutes of the of the fourth quarter changed it. We finally figured it out.”

Every possession was crucial, and almost every possession was aced by the Americans, who seized the moment and did so in a stream of polished hoops at both ends.

“I’ve seen a lot of Team USA basketball,” Curry said, “and that was special.”

2. Serbia done in by lineup of doom

In that fourth quarter, USA was saved by the three most productive players of this American generation. Yes, this was a collective moment for LeBron, Curry and Durant, all playing together for the first time in their careers (not counting the 2024 NBA All-Star Game), all rising to the challenge.

They signed their names on that quarter. LeBron made that driving layup and found teammates, finishing with 16 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists in his first 2024 Olympic triple-double.

Curry was tremendous in the first half and saved some special sauce for the fourth quarter, drilling an important 3-pointer.

Durant’s mid-range jumper in the final minute was the silencer.

“They came alive,” said Edwards. “They carried us today. They showed the world who they are.”

3. Curry, finally

Everyone knew it would eventually happen, if only because of the man’s history. Curry would crack the code that confined him in these Olympics and start splashing.

His first taste of the Games left him perplexed, in a sense. Yes, Curry is recognized as the finest shooter this world ever produced, but international basketball has a way of playing tricks on that title. The game is shorter, as is the 3-point line. And on a team filled with stars, you don’t get 35 minutes a night (far from it actually) to clean up a mess.

Until Thursday. Until Curry hit the game’s first basket, then kept rolling: 14 of the USA’s first 15 points, 17 points in the game’s first 8 1/2 minutes, 20 at halftime, 36 for the game.

Two moments:

1. When he drilled a 3 from the corner in the first quarter and, classic Steph, turned to look at the bench as the ball fell through the net.

2. When he canned another 3 off a screen to put USA ahead 87-86, then made a steal and layup a few minutes later to stretch the advantage to five with 1:41 left.

This, from a player who had 10 buckets total, 5-for-20 shooting on 3s and 29 total points in the four Olympic games leading up to this.

“I haven’t had many opportunities,” Curry said. “I haven’t shot the ball well in the tournament. I had to meet the moment, though. I had some great looks to start the game and that got the rhythm flowing. You live for those moments whether you’re shooting a few times or many.”

4. Joel over Joker

One has three Kia MVP awards, the other finished runner-up to two of those MVPs while owning one himself. Embiid and Jokic, the finest centers on the planet, locked in their first battle in international basketball. This was special.

And worth the wait — especially for Embiid, who made bigger plays and more of them.

Embiid finished with 19 points, shooting 8-for-11, against Jokic. But it went beyond numbers. Embiid was aggressive, eagerly looked to take Jokic off the dribble, and he delivered down the stretch.

“Joel Big-Time Embiid,” gushed LeBron.

Of all the players on the roster, Embiid is better now than when this Olympic experience began a month ago. He has shaken off the conditioning issues, the abundance of errors and freed himself from a fog.

He and Jokic shared an embrace after the buzzer, after another classic confrontation between two forces.

“Always lots of respect for him,” Embiid said. “It’s nothing different, being in the Olympics. He brings out the best in me.”

Up next for Embiid? Let’s just say against France, the fans will bring out … something in him.

“It will be fun,” he said, anticipating plenty of blowback. “I have lots of love for France. I don’t think it’s anything negative. Anyway, no matter what, it’s all about achieving one goal. Whatever it takes.”

5. Excusez moi?

France in the final. This should be the first time since the Olympics turned to the professionals that the crowd favorite in the gold medal game isn’t the USA.

As he walked off the floor in the other semifinal, applause ringing in his ear, Wembanyama choked up, saying later: “It was a special moment with the fans … they made it hard not to cry.”

You could understand why. Born and raised here, Wembanyama has his country on a basketball edge. Celebrated with an Evan Fournier ball-toss into the stands at the buzzer, France stamped its Saturday trip to, well, home with a resounding rally and then a tense stand when the score tightened against Germany in the other semifinal.

The French once again won in a quirky manner. Rudy Gobert (nine minutes the last two games) sparsely played, Wembanyama was chilly shooting and Fournier came off the bench.

But everything fell correctly for the host country, which against Germany was the aggressor. France received inspiring play from a group of European professionals and superior defense from Wemby and Nico Batum —whose full-court sprint, chasedown block in the third quarter was a signature moment.

The crowd at Bercy Arena was obviously lit, with a handful of drummers banging for 40 minutes, and the fans standing and pleading nervously when Wembanyama missed the first of two free throws with 10 seconds left to give Germany a last-possession chance. But Dennis Schroder missed a free throw, that was a wrap and Fournier sent the ball to the moon.

“It was liberation,” explained Fournier. “It felt like we did something meaningful, for the fans, for us. It was just a moment of being really proud and also excited for what’s ahead.”

France basketball’s recent past is solid — Olympic silver medals in 2000 and 2020, bronze at the World Cup in 2014 and 2019 (beating the USA). And the future looks promising as France will ultimately progress from Batum, Fournier, Gobert and national legend Tony Parker to Wemby and likely Zaccharie Risacher and Alex Sarr — the top two players in the 2024 draft who aren’t on this team.

But the immediate future? That’s Saturday.

“I think the atmosphere is going to be incredible,” said Gobert. “It’s what you dream of. It’s why we’re here, why we made it this far.”

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Shaun Powell has covered the NBA for more than 25 years. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on X.

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