After cruising through their first four games of the 2024 Olympics, the star-studded USA men's basketball team got a scare from Serbia and three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic in Thursday's semifinal game, falling behind by as many as 17 points and heading into the final quarter down 13.
Serbia led for more than 35 minutes of a 40-minute game, but the U.S. held the advantage when it counted. The final period belonged to Team USA, which outscored Serbia 32-15 to come back and take the lead for good on a Stephen Curry 3-pointer with 2:24 remaining in the 95-91 victory.
Curry put together his best performance in a USA jersey, scoring 36 points -- one shy of the American Olympic record for men's basketball held by Carmelo Anthony and the most ever for a U.S. player in a knockout game, per ESPN Stats & Information. The USA needed almost every one, along with a clutch performance from LeBron James, to advance and face host France for the gold medal on Saturday.
Here are the key takeaways from the most thrilling U.S. men's basketball game since matchups with Spain in the 2008 and 2012 finals.
Not the same Serbia
This was the third meeting between Team USA and Serbia this summer. The U.S. men had comfortably taken both previous matchups, winning an exhibition in Abu Dhabi 105-79 and the opening game of group play, 110-84.
In both of those games, Serbia struggled from 3, shooting a combined 19-of-71 (27%). Not this time. Led by 4-of-6 3-point shooting from guard Aleksa Avramovic and three makes apiece by Bogdan Bogdanovic and Ognjen Dobric, Serbia made five 3s in each of the first three quarters while building a double-digit lead.
Beyond better shooting, Serbia relied more heavily on Jokic. Serbia played the USA to a draw with the Denver Nuggets star on the court in the group meeting, but was outscored by 26 points in the 7:15 he spent on the bench. This time, Jokic played nearly 38 minutes of the 40-minute game, and Serbia managed to extend its lead during his brief rests. He finished with 17 points and a game-high 11 assists.
The combination made Serbia look like the biggest test for Team USA, which was expected entering the Olympics.
Team USA locks down with vets
Having spent most of the Olympics playing a deep rotation, U.S. coach Steve Kerr relied heavily on his veterans with the game on the line. Kerr's only fourth-quarter sub until the final eight seconds of the game was bringing Joel Embiid in for Anthony Davis. That gave Team USA a closing lineup with four MVPs: Curry, Embiid, Kevin Durant and LeBron James, flanked by Devin Booker -- the only player in that group younger than 30 years old.
The veteran lineup stepped up defensively. Serbia did not make a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter, going 0-for-9, and had just 15 points total after scoring at least 22 each of the first three periods. Getting more stops allowed the U.S. to get out in transition, including a steal and score by Curry that gave the Americans their largest lead at five points.
At the other end, the stars were able to score against a set Serbia defense. Curry's go-ahead 3, which came off a crushing screen set by Embiid, was the most memorable score. But Durant also made a difficult pull-up after Serbia cut the lead back to two on a Bogdanovic three-point play with 56 seconds remaining.
James, meanwhile, was everywhere down the stretch. Playing the entire fourth quarter, he had 6 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists and finished with his second career Olympic triple-double: 16 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. Per ESPN Stats & Info, he's the first men's basketball player ever with multiple triple-doubles in the Olympics, having previously done so in 2012.
Steph plays better
Team USA only stayed within striking distance during the first three quarters because of Curry's heroics. After a slow start to his Olympics debut, scoring 29 points on 10-of-28 shooting over the first four U.S. games, he more than surpassed that total in the semifinals.
Curry was sensational at the start, scoring 14 of the USA's first 15 points, with four 3-pointers in that span. His nine 3s in the game were the second most ever by a U.S. men's basketball player in the Olympics -- Anthony made 10 against Nigeria in 2012.
In the closing minutes, Curry took over again, scoring seven of Team USA's last 11 points, including two free throws with eight seconds left to ice the game.
Surprising bench struggles
Throughout the Olympics, including the group matchup with Serbia, the U.S. second unit of Durant, Davis, Bam Adebayo, Anthony Edwards and Derrick White had opened up leads. Durant entered Thursday with Team USA's best plus-minus (plus-72), followed by Edwards (plus-65).
That wasn't the case in the semifinals. Durant (plus-5) was the only U.S. player with a positive plus-minus, and the Americans were outscored by 16 in the 6:46 White played. Durant started slowly, scoring just two points on 1-of-5 shooting over the first three quarters before going 3-of-3 in the fourth, and the other four USA reserves combined for just nine points.
It's possible changes for Kerr and the U.S. coaching staff are ahead for Saturday's gold medal game. As when the USA faced Serbia in group play, Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum was not part of the rotation in the semifinals, picking up a DNP-CD. Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton was the other U.S. player not to see action Thursday.