ParisThe Avengers accomplished their mission. The United States won their fifth consecutive gold medal by beating France 98-87 on Saturday in the men’s Olympic basketball final in Paris 2024, at an effervescent Bercy Arena in the face of local resistance against legends LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant.
In a repeat of the final from three years ago in Tokyo, Team USA redeemed itself from its fourth-place finish at the 2023 World Cup, a result that was the seed for the self-proclaimed “Avengers,” assembled by LeBron to settle that debt.
France had pulled within three points with three minutes left, but four consecutive three-pointers from Steph Curry ended their resistance. The Golden State Warriors guard claimed his first gold medal with 24 points.
With this gold, the United States has won 17 of the 21 Olympic men’s basketball tournaments. Only the USSR (Munich 1972 and Seoul 1988), Yugoslavia (Moscow 1980) and Argentina (Athens 2004) have been able to break the empire.
Silver is the fourth for France, which has always been beaten by Team USA in the final: Paris 2024 joins London 1948, Sydney 2000 and Tokyo 2020. Serbia took third place on the podium, beating Germany 93-83 with a triple-double from leader Nikola Jokic (19 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists).
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– 2024-08-16 21:28:02
