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The star-studded US team, with a few veterans going for one more round at the Olympics. Then a very talented French team, with perhaps the best young player in the world in Victor Wembanyama, playing in front of a lively home crowd.
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And both teams have shown plenty of resilience in getting to this stage, so if one team happens to take a double-digit lead, there’s no reason to think the game is over.
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Welcome to one of the most-anticipated events of these Games, with good reason.
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Wembanyama encourages his team during the semi-final against Germany.”,”caption”:”Victor Wembanyama encourages his team during the semi-final against Germany.”,”credit”:”Photo: Anadolu/Getty Images”}}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1723314649000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”14.30 EDT”,”blockLastUpdated”:1723314831000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”14.33 EDT”,”blockFirstPublished”:1723314831000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”14.33 EDT”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”14.33″,”title”:”Preamble”,”contributors”:[],”primaryDateLine”:”Saturday, August 10, 2024 at 14:42 EDT”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published Saturday, August 10, 2024 at 14:30 EDT”}],”filterKeyEvents”:false,”id”:”key-events-carousel-mobile”,”absoluteServerTimes”:false}”>
Main Events
Statistics Reader (per game)
France
point
Wembanyama 13.8
Yabusele 12.8
Cordinier 10.6
Fournier 10.2
rebound
Wembanyama 10.2 (2nd out of all teams)
Gobert 4.2
assist
Wembanyama 3.6
Batum 2.4
block
Wenbayama 2.0 (first)
Gobert 1.6 (6th)
Batum 1.0
steal
Wenbanyama 2.2 (first)
Cordinier 1.4
united states of america
point
James 14.2
Edwards 13.8
Durant 13.6
Curry 13.0
Embiid 13.0
assist
James 8.2 (2nd place)
Holiday 3.5
Booker 3.4
rebound
James 7.0
Davis 6.2
Tatum 6.0 (limited playing time)
block
Embiid 1.3 (6th)
Turnover
James 3.8 (4th)
3-point shot
Curry 2.8 (7th)
Durant 2.2
Booker 2.2
preamble
We all wanted this final, right?
The star-studded U.S. team has several veterans who will play another round at the Olympics, and a highly talented France team has arguably the best young players in the world. Victor Wembanyamaperforming in front of a lively hometown crowd.
And both teams have shown such resilience to get to this stage that there’s no reason to think the game is over even if one team happens to take a double-digit lead.
Welcome to what is, naturally, one of the most anticipated events of the tournament.
Bo will join you shortly. Meanwhile, Brian Graham talks about the hostile atmosphere that awaits the US as they face off against the host nation.
The Americans know that France will pose a much different challenge in the uniquely hostile environment of the cauldron-like Bercy Arena. The hosts are looking to become the first team to win domestic gold in men’s basketball since the United States in 1996. For the inquisitive Victor Wembanyama, this is surely the opportunity of a lifetime. Not only has he become, overnight, an icon of the Paris Games, joining the likes of Léon Marchand, Teddy Riner, Antoine Dupont and the Leblanc brothers, but he could also break into the pantheon of broader folk heroes like Cerdan, Hinault, Killy and Zidane by beating a 17-time Olympic champion on the eve of the closing ceremony.
“I’m expecting them to play the game of their life,” said Stephen Curry, who is making his Olympic debut. “They’re on their home court, the adrenaline is going to be there, and they’ve got a lot of momentum coming out of these last two games. I’m expecting them to play great, but I’m expecting the same from ourselves, too.”
You can read the full article below.
