Team USA had a balanced attack against host France in the men's basketball gold medal game on Saturday at the Paris Olympics. Steph Curry, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Devin Booker all scored in double figures, NBC News reports. But it was Curry who provided the heroics, hitting four 3-pointers in the final three minutes to lead the US to a 98-87 victory. The gold medal is the US team's fifth in a row and 17th overall. "That was an unbelievable moment," Curry said after the game. It was his first appearance in the Olympics.
The crowd at Bercy Arena was loud in backing the French team. "I think we might be the only team in the world whose fans are ashamed of them if they get a silver medal," US coach Steve Kerr said afterward. He said his players, including Curry, relish the pressure, per the Athletic. "Under the circumstances, on the road in Paris against France for a gold medal, this is storybook stuff," Kerr said. "But that's what Steph does. He likes to be in storybooks." Curry had been in a slump before scoring 60 points in the final two games, 24 of them Saturday. He hit on 17 of 26 3-point shots.
France—whose roster included NBA rookie of the year Victor Wembanyama, per the AP—was no pushover, and cut the US lead to 3 points in the final minutes. But then Curry began his successful flurry of shots. His 3-pointer with 33 seconds remaining in the game put the US up by 9 points. "I knew if I got to my spot ... I could knock it down," he said. France's silver medal is its second in a row. Serbia defeated Germany earlier in the day to take the bronze medal, per CBS Sports. (More 2024 Paris Olympics stories.)
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