The USA Punch Their Ticket to the Olympic Gold Medal Game with a Thrilling Win Over Serbia

08 August 2024

USA 95, Serbia 91

View the USA-Serbia box score here.

The USA Men’s National Team will play for a fifth-straight gold medal after a nail-biting 95-91 victory over Serbia in the 2024 Olympic Games semifinal. The USA and Serbia met for the second time in these Olympic Games and fourth time ever on the Olympic stage. In the last month, the U.S. triumphed over Serbia during the USA Basketball Showcase (105-79) and the first game of Olympic group play (110-84).

The U.S. face France on Saturday, Aug. 10, at Bercy Arena for the gold medal. This is the second consecutive Olympic Games where the USA and France have played for the gold.

In their 20th Olympics, USA Basketball holds a 143-5 overall record and is 35-1 since 2004. The U.S. have medaled in every Olympics in which they’ve participated.

Starting Out: Coach Steve Kerr brought out Stephen Curry, Devin Booker, Jrue Holiday, LeBron James and Joel Embiid. The 5 started in the USA’s quarterfinal game and the first game of the Olympics against Serbia. The starters combined for 80 of the team’s 95 points.

Run Me My Medal: The semifinal was a shootout from the jump. The U.S. trailed from the 5:46 mark until the final minutes of the game. The Americans had not trailed by more than 8 points in any game until the second quarter of tonight’s matchup (25-37, 8:17), and after a Nikola Jokic and-1 score, Serbia took its largest lead of 17 points (42-25) with 6:24 to play in the second quarter.

The U.S. trailed 63-76 to start the fourth quarter but worked themselves back into the game thanks to Embiid and Curry. As the U.S. were behind 75-82 with 6:03 to play, Embiid went on a personal 7-2 run to bring the game within one possession (82-84). After a stop, the Americans tied the game at 84 on a James driving layup. The Americans took their first lead, 87-86, on a Curry three, his ninth of the night, with just over 2:24 remaining.

Serbia scared the U.S. lead by bringing the game within one possession on two occurrences in the final minute of the fourth quarter, but the game was capped off by Curry, who sunk 2 free throws with 8 seconds left to put the red, white and blue ahead 95-91. Curry (7), James (4) and Kevin Durant (2) scored the USA’s final 13 points.

4th Quarter Defense: The Americans saw the Serbians shoot the lights out from behind the arc through the first three quarters. Serbia went 15-of-30 from deep before entering the fourth frame. If the USA had hopes of winning the game, they had to slow down the long-range shooting from the opponent.

Serbia was held 0-of-9 from 3-point range in the final frame. The U.S. defense also caused 3 of Serbia’s 7 total turnovers in the last 10 minutes.

Let Steph Cook: Curry put on a signature shooting performance for the record books. He started by scoring 14 of the USA’s first 15 points while shooting 5-of-6 from the field and 4-of-5 from 3. He finished the first quarter with 17 points (6-8 FG, 5-7 3FG). His highest scoring total in a game at the Olympics before today was 11 points. To end the game, he had 36 points (12-19 FG, 9-14 3FG, 3-3 FT), 8 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal.

His 36 points are the second-most by an American at the Olympics. Carmelo Anthony holds the record with 37 points (13-16 FG, 10-12 3FG) against Nigeria in the 2012 Olympic Games. Additionally, his 9 3-pointers are the second-most ever by an American at The Games and most ever by a player in an elimination game.

The last person to score 30+ points in a game for the USA was Durant. He tallied 30 points on August 21, 2016, against Serbia in the gold medal game of the Rio Olympics.

Curry is now the seventh American to record a 30-point game at the Olympics, joining Anthony (2016, 2012), Durant (2016, 2012), Stephon Marbury (2004), Klay Thompson (2016), Charles Barkley (1992) and Adrian Dantley (1976).

Triple Crown: James grabbed his second Olympic career triple-double with 16 points (6-9 FG, 2-4 3FG, 2-3 FT), 12 rebounds and 10 assists. He led the team in rebounding and passing in the game.

His triple-double was the fourth in Olympic history and he is the first player to record multiple triple-doubles in an Olympic career.

Process That: Embiid followed up his 14-point showing in the quarterfinals against Brazil with 19 points (8-11 FG, 2-3 3FG), 4 rebounds and 2 assists against Serbia. He is averaging 16 points over the last three games for the USA.