Paris will have its dream basketball final, France against the United States, this Saturday at 9:30 p.m. Although the movie was close to having a different actor. The Dream Team of Curry, Durant and LeBron sweated and suffered to beat Serbia 95-91 thanks to a 32-15 run in the last quarter. Jokic’s team was far superior for most of the match, but gave in to the individual quality and physical power of the NBA stars. Curry stretched his service record to 36 points to put the United States in the fight for its fifth consecutive Olympic gold.
Serbia came out strong against the Dream Team, quick in transitions and accurate from the perimeter, a team with very clear ideas. The USA responded with the first of its bombs: Curry stopped that first insurrection with 14 of the first 15 points of his team (four triples). That’s the trick of the United States. Anyone can dress up as a hero for a few minutes. Steve Kerr’s group had taken off sluggishly, and lost the first quarter: 23-31.
It’s a bad idea to underestimate a rival that is runner-up in the world championship when Jokic, who was present at these Games, wasn’t there. The Serbian center is not only an excellent soloist, but he makes the whole orchestra sound better. A block from the star on LeBron and a dance in the paint gave Serbia a 17-point lead: 25-42.
Anthony Davis and Embiid suffered against Jokic. The Cameroonian-born center has not stopped receiving boos from the crowd on any of the balls he touches, whether in the first phase in Lille or now in Paris. France does not forgive him for what it considers a betrayal: he asked the French federation to represent the Gallic country, and that is how it was arranged, but then he changed sides to go with LeBron.
Kerr used the holy trinity (Curry, Durant, James) and the American team tried to defend, but too late because the rival had gotten in their face. Pesic’s men reached the break ahead (43-54), with 10 three-pointers in their bag, superior in rebounding and with Bogdanovic and Avramovic on the ball. Curry and James signed some All-Star actions so that the damage was not greater.
LeBron to the rescue. The great star set the machinery in motion, a spell that includes talks with the referees. The king imposes when he protests. The match had become equal, now converted into an exchange of baskets, but the United States needed much more to recover the lost ground, and the Serbian shooters did not let up either (53-65), well supplied by the beacon of Jokic. The Dream Team was supported by the individual power of its pieces, each one on his own, a succession of monologues. One moment from James, another from Durant… Insufficient ammunition against the Serbian union, a team that moves as such in attack and defense, increasingly growing and difficult to contain (63-76 at the end of the third quarter).
Suddenly it was a 10-minute final for the United States. Comeback or humiliation. In the middle of the battle, Jokic picked up his fourth foul just as Durant and Booker were finishing off three-pointers (73-78). The fatigue of withstanding such a battle also weighed on Pesic’s men. Embiid charged with his big body and LeBron attacked the rim like a buffalo to tie the game at 84 with 3m 39s left. A three-pointer from Curry, two steals and the counterattacks ended up dismantling the Balkan resistance. Serbia demanded the best version of the United States so that the Dream Team could reach the final and not leave through the back door.
The home team will be fighting for gold on Saturday. France devoured Germany (73-69), the world champion, in a stadium lit up by the rhythm of La Marseillaise. It seemed like a team consumed again by its internal guerrillas, but as soon as it moved from Lille to Paris, the team blueIt is another matter. First, it defeated Canada and its NBA army of men in the quarterfinals, and in the semifinals, it left behind a Germany that was on a roll.
France will play in its fourth Olympic final after losing in 1948, 2000 and 2021, all against the United States.
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