The United States kept the dream alive with a stirring fourth quarter rally to tame feisty Serbia 95-91 on Thursday and move into the Paris Olympics men’s basketball gold medal final against France.
Trailing by double digits for much of the game and down 76-63 heading into the fourth quarter, the United States chances of a fifth consecutive gold were quickly dimming. Then NBA stars LeBron James and Stephen Curry took charge, bringing a wide-eyed capacity crowd at the Bercy Arena to their feet with a furious fight back.
The U.S. win delivered the final basketball fans wanted to see and is sure to be one of the Paris Olympics highlights as the American Dream Team takes on an inspired France on Saturday, in what will be a hostile Bercy cauldron.
Bolstered by an electric home crowd, a turbo-charged France won a 73-69 thriller over Germany.
France was led by a 17-point effort from Guerschon Yabusele while Isaia Cordinier chipped in 16, none more important than two free throws with seven seconds to play to blunt a Germany fight back and seal victory.
“I think the national team, this jersey brings to us that different energy that we can’t find nowhere else,” said Victor Wembanyama, the first Frenchman to be taken number one overall in the NBA draft.
“We can see how intense we’ve been over the last two games. It’s something that we all feel as patriots. We love our jersey. We love our country,” said the 7-foot-3 center.
“The will to sacrifice for the team. The will to do the next pass, to do the next play for your teammate. It was always there.”
After a loss to Germany in their final group game, France came prepared for a battle and got one in a tense nail-biter that was not decided until the final seconds.
French fans arrived prepared to party, but Germany dialed back some of that excitement when they jumped out to a 12-2 lead.
The arena was soon rocking again as France worked their way back, the crowd erupting in a mighty rafter-rattling roar when Wembanyama hit the final basket of the half to send the teams into the break deadlocked at 33-33.
Now fully fuelled by the pumped-up crowd, France powered to a 56-50 third-quarter lead and led 70-65 with just 40 seconds to play.
Franz Wagner dampened the party atmosphere by hitting a long-range three-pointer to cut the France advantage to just two, leaving a stunned French crowd on the edge of their seats.
But France refused to buckle. Cordinier’s steely free throws turned the volume all the way up again with a massive celebration erupting as the final seconds ticked down, the players mobbing each other and dancing to roars of approval.
