PARIS — Steph Curry’s late-game heroics and a lightning-fast American transition attack denied France its storybook basketball ending Saturday night.
The United States consistently cashed in French turnovers and misses into fast-break points, and Curry scored a team-high 24 points in a 98-87 American win in the men’s basketball gold medal game.
It was the fifth straight Olympic title for the Americans.
Kevin Durant and Devin Booker both scored 15 points and LeBron James added 14 for the victorious Americans. The devastating U.S. fast-break attack proved to be the difference as America held a 31-9 edge in transition points.
France had closed to within 82-79 late in the fourth when Curry took charge, hitting four 3-pointers in the final three minutes as America pulled away to victory.
Curry gave the Bercy Arena fans his “night, night” taunt after the final dagger jumper.
“I’ve been blessed,” Curry, a first-time Olympian, told NBC shortly after the game. “This ranks very high in terms of the excitement and the sense of relief in getting to the finish line.”
The NBA’s all-time leading 3-point shooter said he didn’t hesitate taking those late jumpers.
“I knew if I got to my spot … I could knock it down,” he said.
U.S. boss Steve Kerr, whose 9-to-5 gig is as Curry’s Golden State coach, called Saturday’s game one of the sharpshooter’s finest hours.
“It’s right up there with all of the greatest games of his career,” Kerr said of his star player, who has led Golden State to four NBA titles.
“The shot-making was just incredible,” Kerr said. “But under the circumstances, you know, on the road, in Paris, against France for a gold medal. This is storybook stuff, but that’s what Steph does. He likes to be in storybooks.”
The U.S. victory also elevated Curry to a select club. He’s now among nine players who can boast of having a NBA championship ring, regular season MVP honor, finals MVP award and an Olympic gold medal.
That group includes Curry, his Team USA colleagues James and Durant and Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant, Hakeem Olajuwon and Shaquille O’Neal.
Even if the United States comes into any international tournament with the most raw talent, winning isn’t a given.
“When you coach, you just try to help them along, but we have the most incredible group of players. They were all so unselfish throughout this whole thing through all the noise, all the pressure,” Kerr said.
“I think we might be the only team in the world whose fans are ashamed of them if they get a silver medal, you know, and that’s the pressure that we face,” he said. “But our players — and you saw Steph — they love the pressure. They appreciate this atmosphere, and they were fantastic.”
NBA Rookie of the Year and San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama paced France with a game-high 26 points.
The French crowd, crying “allez les bleus” throughout the game, warmly cheered Wembanyama as he left the floor.
A vast majority of fans at Bercy Arena stayed for the medal ceremony to applaud the French team one more time. After French players received their silver medals, fans broke into an impromptu signing of “La Marseillaise,” the national anthem.
Earlier in the day in the bronze medal game, Nikola Jokic’s triple double helped Serbia defeat Germany 93-83. Jokic had 19 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists as Serbia shook off its heartbreaking semifinal loss to the United States.
