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Kevin Pelton, ESPN Senior Writer
After cruising through its first four games at the 2024 Olympics, the star-studded U.S. men’s basketball team was given a scare by Serbia and three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic in Thursday’s semifinal, trailing by as many as 17 points and entering the fourth quarter trailing by 13.
Serbia led for more than 35 of the first 40 minutes, but the U.S. held on to the advantage when the time came. The final period belonged to the U.S., who outscored Serbia 32-15 and took the lead for good thanks to a Stephen Curry three-pointer with 2:24 left in the game for a 95-91 win.
Curry had his best performance for the U.S., scoring 36 points — one shy of Carmelo Anthony’s U.S. men’s Olympic basketball record and the most ever by an American player in a knockout game, according to ESPN Stats & Information. The U.S. needed nearly all of those points, along with a stellar performance from LeBron James, to advance and face host France for the gold medal on Saturday.
Here are the key takeaways from the most exciting U.S. men’s basketball matchup since its encounters with Spain in the 2008 and 2012 finals.
Not the same Serbia
This was the third meeting between the U.S. and Serbia this summer. The U.S. men had won the previous two meetings easily, winning an exhibition match in Abu Dhabi 105-79 and the group stage opener 110-84.
In both games, Serbia struggled from three-point range, hitting 19 of 71 (27%). That didn’t happen this time. Led by four of six three-pointers from goalkeeper Aleksa Avramovic and three successful attempts each from Bogdan Bogdanovic and Ognjen Dobric, Serbia hit five three-pointers in each of the first three quarters while leading by ten.
Beyond better shooting, Serbia relied more heavily on Jokic. Serbia tied the United States with the Denver Nuggets star on the court in the group game, but outscored the U.S. 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 was able to extend its lead during short breaks. He finished with 17 points and a game-high 11 assists.
This combination made Serbia look like the biggest test for Team USA, which was expected to enter the Olympics.
Team USA closes doors with veterans
Having spent most of the Olympics playing with a deep lineup, U.S. coach Steve Kerr leaned heavily on his veterans for the game. Kerr’s only substitution in the fourth quarter, with eight seconds remaining, was to bring on Joel Embiid for Anthony Davis. That gave the U.S. a closing lineup that featured four of its best players: Curry, Embiid, Kevin Durant and LeBron James, along with Devin Booker — the only player in that group who was under 30.
The veteran team shored up its defense. Serbia failed to make a single three-pointer in the fourth quarter, making just nine attempts, and scoring just 15 points overall after scoring at least 22 points in each of the first three periods. More blocking allowed the U.S. to take the lead, including a steal and a Curry score that gave the Americans their largest lead of five points.
On the other end, the team’s stars managed to score against a solid Serbian defense. Curry’s three-pointer, which came off a great pass from Embiid, was the standout. But Durant also made a huge mistake after Serbia cut the deficit to two points thanks to Bogdanovic’s three-pointer with 56 seconds left.
Meanwhile, James was everywhere in the game. He scored 6 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists throughout the entire fourth quarter and finished with his second Olympic triple-double of his career: 16 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. According to ESPN Stats & Information, he is the first men’s basketball player ever to have a multiple triple-double at the Olympics, having previously done so in 2012.
Steve plays better
The U.S. team was only able to hold on for the first three quarters thanks to Curry’s brilliance. After a slow start in his Olympic debut, scoring 29 points on 10 of 28 shots in the U.S.’s first four games, he surpassed that total in the semifinals.
Curry was impressive early on, scoring 14 of the U.S.’s first 15 points, including four three-pointers in that stretch. His nine three-pointers in the game were the second-most ever by an American basketball player at an Olympics — Anthony had 10 against Nigeria in 2012.
In the final minutes, Curry took control of the game again, scoring seven of the last 11 points scored by the American team, including two free throws with eight seconds left in the game.
Surprise bench battles
Throughout the Olympics, including the group match with Serbia, the U.S. B team of Durant, Davis, Bam Adebayo, Anthony Edwards and Derrick White has been able to extend the lead. Durant entered Thursday with the best positive score for the U.S. team (+72), followed by Edwards (+65).
It wasn’t the case in the semifinals. Durant (+5) was the only American player to score a positive point, and the Americans outscored him by 16 points in the 6:46 White played. Durant started the game slowly, scoring just 2 points on 1-of-5 shooting over the first three quarters before hitting 3-of-3 in the fourth, and the other four American reserves scored just nine points combined.
Kerr will likely have to make changes to the U.S. coaching staff ahead of Saturday’s gold medal game. As was the case when the U.S. faced Serbia in the group stage, Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum was not in the starting lineup for the semifinals, having been granted leave from playing. Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton was the other American player who sat out Thursday’s game.
