Goodnight Paris.
So declared Steph Curry with his hands tucked to the side of his face, as the United States men’s basketball team continued its Olympic reign of dominance, defeating France 98-87 in the final on Saturday, 10 August to win their fifth straight gold medal at Olympic Games Paris 2024.
The Olympic debutant ended the evening’s bitter battle for supremacy by shooting four of his eight three-pointers in the final minutes, killing off any hopes of a French comeback.
Curry had 24 points overall, with Kevin Durant and Devin Booker finishing on 15 points each, and LeBron James with 14.
“I was just trying to settle us down. All we wanted to do was get a good shot. It had been a while since we had good possession,” the newly minted Olympic gold medallist said afterwards.
“[Finally] the momentum was on our side. At that point, your mind goes blank. You don’t really care about the setting or the scenario or anything. It’s just a shot.”
After a frenetic start, Team USA never looked like it would cede control of the game throughout the 40-minute finale, and yet France with its grit and fervour continued to keep the NBA stars guessing.
Victor Wembanyama, who led all scorers with 26 points and seven rebounds, and Guerschon Yabusele with 20 points, consistently posed a threat when they were on the court. And when Les Bleus sliced the one double-digit lead to just three points with 2:58 remaining, the Bercy Arena crowd began to believe a French resurgence was on.
But just as he shattered Serbian hearts not 48 hours before, a dose of Curry magic stopped the French dead in their tracks, denying them a first Olympic gold and instead handing them their third silver medal in the history of the event.
With Saturday’s victory, Durant became the first-ever men’s basketball player to win four Olympic titles.
Durant finished with 15 points, four assists, four rebounds and two steals in 31 minutes.
Earlier in the day, Serbia defeated world champions Germany 93-83 to secure the bronze medal.
Three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic capped the action with 19 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists to bank his first Olympic triple-double and only the fifth ever.
