Paris 2024 Olympics, Serbia throws away historic opportunity: Dream Team comes back and wins
Men’s basketball: Serbia regrets, US-France final
The Dream Team eventually reached the final of the men's Olympic basketball tournament in Paris 2024, but until a few minutes from the end Serbia had seemed to put the talented Americans in check, starting the last quarter ahead by 13 before collapsing in the last 10': in the end è 95-91 for Team USA, which will face France (73-69 over Germany) in the final for the gold.
LeBron James and his teammates suffered from the very first minutes the offensive verve and, on the other side of the court, the divensive strategies of the men coached by Svetislav Pesic (best scorers Bogdan Bogdanovic with 20 points and Nicola Jokic with 17 points and 11 assists): the first three halves saw Serbia score more and more points than the United States, and when after 30' the scoreboard read 76-63 for the Balkans the big surprise seemed to be on the horizon.
Instead, the Americans, led by a Steph Curry of 36 points and 8 rebounds and a LeBron James in triple-double with 16 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists, not only came close but also managed to accelerate in the final, completing the comeback with a 32-15 partial in the last quarter that saved them from what would have been a rout, given the initial goal and the value of the players summoned by Steve Kerr.
Between the United States and the gold medal, therefore, remains only the obstacle represented by hosts France, which after stuttering in the early stages of the tournament has strung together two top-level victories against Canada and Germany. It is precisely the Germans who will play Serbia for the bronze medal, in a rematch of the 2023 World Cup final.
