Stephen Curry Comes Up HUGE As Team USA Wins A Thriller
What an unbelievable game! When the stakes are at their highest, Team USA finds a way to pull off a miraculous victory. They came back from down as much as 16 points, and the ‘Big Three’ of LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant had much to do with it.
An incredibly tough way to lose for Serbia, who were brilliant for most of the game, but it was a legendary win for the United States and a legacy performance from the greatest shooter of all time.
The Big Three Save The Day
It was a vintage performance from Team USA, as the veterans came out and stole the show. Kevin Durant, while only finishing with nine points, was crucial down the stretch of this game, hitting shots only he could.
LeBron James finished with just the fourth Triple-Double in Men’s Olympic history! He scored 16 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists on just nine FGA. It was a masterclass yet again from the man favored to win the Olympic MVP.
Stephen Curry had quite easily the best individual performance of any player on this team, from any game so far this Olympics - a 36-point BOMB from the greatest shooter on earth, including nine three-pointers of 14 attempts.
What had been a relatively disappointing campaign for the 2x MVP has completely turned around with this one game. It will not be remembered as one of the best Olympic performances of all time, and rightly so. He had 17 of the 36 in the first quarter alone, and it’s scary to think where the U.S. would’ve been without him.
A Valiant Effort From Serbia
After an 11-point lead going into halftime, the Serbians had the chance to pull off the massive upset. Nikola Jokic and Bogdan Bogdanovic, along with Aleksa Avramovic, played excellent games offensively. The three combined for 52 points, but it wasn’t quite enough.
Unfortunately, the Serbian's three-point shooting completely abandoned them in the fourth quarter. After hitting 15 threes in the first 30 minutes, they couldn’t put one in the net in the final period; it cost them. They were raining in threes early, and many times, they looked over at Carmelo Anthony on the sidelines and pulled his signature ‘3 to the dome’ celebration.
Fourth Quarter Takeover
It was pure quality when Team USA needed it in the fourth, from a variety of players. LeBron, KD, Steph and Joel Embiid were pivotal in winning this game.
Despite the criticism Embiid has faced throughout this campaign, he was sensational this game. Going up against the greatest player on earth in Jokic, he held his own, scoring 19 points, on 8-11 shooting. This included a personal 8-0 run at the end of the third quarter.
LeBron James was everywhere on both sides of the ball in the fourth quarter. It was him guarding Nikola Jokic down the stretch, he got deflections and hit some very timely buckets on the other end.
Kevin Durant was quiet in the first half but did his thing in the second. As per usual, he hit massive shots down the stretch, pull-up mid-ranges, 3-pointers, and fadeaways. His 3-level scoring was on full display, and it was beautiful to watch.
The USA advance to play France, after they upset Germany in the other Semi-Final, for the Gold Medal.
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