USA repels France to win men's basketball Olympic gold

PARIS – For the fifth straight time, Team USA is on top of the basketball world.

Team USA survived a late scare from the host country France, pulling away to take the Paris Olympics gold in the men’s basketball tournament, 98-87, Sunday morning (Manila time).

With the game too close for comfort, Steph Curry took over down the stretch, heating up at just the right time. 

LOOK: Stats from both teams. @StarSportsHub @PhilstarNews #Paris2024 #Olympics pic.twitter.com/5BQis7esrD

— Ralph Edwin Villanueva (@_ralphedwin) August 10, 2024

Curry led the Americans with 24 points, with all eight of his field goals coming from the 3-point territory.

Devin Booker and Kevin Durant backstopped with 15 points each, while LeBron James had 14 points, 10 assists and six rebounds. 

Team USA led by 11, 80-69, with 7:02 remaining after a triple by James.

France countered with a massive 10-2 run capped by a putback by Victor Wembanyama off his own miss to cut the lead to three, 79-82. 

Curry then started to erupt, answering back with a triple to push the lead to six, 85-79. 

After a pair of freebies by Durant, Nando de Colo had a layup to inch France closer. 

Curry had another backbreaking 3-pointer to keep France at bay. 

After Nicolas Batum retaliated with a trey of his own, Curry hoisted another from rainbow country, 93-84, with 1:18 left. 

Fournier tried to answer back, but his triple was blocked by Anthony Davis. France, though, recovered its own miss, leading to a Wembanyama 3-pointer with 54.4 seconds to go. 

But Curry would not be denied, sinking the dagger trey with about 35 seconds remaining, 96-87. 

On the other end, Guerschon Yabusele missed from way beyond, leading to a touchdown finish by Devin Booker that set the final score. 

Team USA led by as much as 14 points, 61-47, in the third quarter before France slowly nipped away the lead. 

Big shots by the Americans, though, kept the hometown team at a distance.

Wembanyama paced France with 26 markers. Yabusele added 20.

Team USA rained 3-pointers in the game, making 18 of their 36 attempts from outside. 

The team shot a total of 36-of-67 for a 54% clip, compared to France’s 34-of-71 field goal shooting. 

The Americans also dished out more assists (29) than France (21). 

Earlier, Serbia brought home the bronze medal after edging out Germany, 98-83.