Team USA completed five drives.
And they did so by beating hosts France.
In the men’s basketball final at the Paris Olympics at the Bercy Arena, the United States showed focus and led almost until the end of the game, winning 98-87.
It was Kevin Durant’s fifth consecutive Olympic gold medal and a record-breaking fourth gold medal for a men’s basketball player.
After Victor Wembanyama cut the U.S.’s double-digit lead to just three points with 2:58 left, future Hall of Famers Durant, LeBron James and Stephen Curry all played well late.
That was until Curry made a crucial 3-pointer and the U.S. scored the next nine points.
He scored one on a counterattack to Wembanyama just 10 seconds later, doubling Team USA’s lead.
Curry then made another shot with 1 minute, 53 seconds left and then a miraculous high-arcing shot over a double team by Wembanyama with 35 seconds left to signal the France stars and the Paris crowd to say “good night.”
Curry finished with 24 points and five assists.
He made eight 3-pointers, following up on the nine he made in the semifinal comeback win over Serbia.
The U.S. team has won 17 gold medals in men’s basketball, winning eight of the last nine.
Since 2004, they have a 36-1 record in the Olympics, with the “1” coming in a loss to France in the group stage of the Tokyo Olympics.
But they bounced back to beat France in the final three years ago and did so again on Saturday.
The U.S. overcame a 17-point deficit behind Curry’s game-high 36 points to beat three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic of Serbia on Thursday.
But this time there was no need to return.
They trailed by one in the second quarter before quickly expanding to a 20-9 lead.
They never fell behind again.
Durant finished with 15 points and James had 14 points, nine assists and six rebounds.
Wenbanyama finished with a game-high 26 points.
