That’s all from here. Quite a way to end the penultimate day of these Paris Olympics.
Thanks as always for following along and for the kind emails. See you in Los Angeles. Well, before then.
Curry notes that things were getting out of control in the stretch, but then “the rhythm, the avalanche came.”
He’s trying to put into words what it means to get gold. “Insane” is about as much as he can say about it.
Being decisive was key, he says. That’s how he hit his 3s, and being indecisive accounted for some of the turnovers.
Huge day for US teams. Gold in women’s soccer. Gold in men’s basketball. Gold in both 4x400m relays.
China have 39 gold medals and a good shot at a 40th.
The USA have 38 and have a good shot in women’s basketball. They’re also in finals in women’s wrestling and women’s volleyball, and Jennifer Valente is up to defend her track cycling title.
Curry is celebrating with the entire front row.
Bryan Armen Graham has already filed his report:
The stars came out to play …
Wembanyana: 26 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists
Yabusele, maybe starting a bidding war among NBA teams: 20 points
Curry: 24 points, 5 assists
LeBron: 14 points, 6 rebounds, 10 assists
Durant and Booker with 15 each.
The USA win their fifth straight Olympic gold in men's basketball
That was every bit the classic we anticipated.
USA 98-87 France, 0:03 left, 4th quarter: Curry has 24 points, having hit 8 of 12 from behind the arc.
And now he gets a steal. France take a while to grab and force alternating possession.
USA 98-87 France, 0:16 left, 4th quarter: Curry brings up the ball. Over to Durant. Back to Curry. He’s double-teamed.
HE HITS IT ANYWAY!!!
Yabusele misses. Ball up to Booker, dunk.
It’s just about over.
USA 93-87 France, 0:55 left, 4th quarter: Fournier tries a quick 3. Davis blocks it. Somehow, Fournier gets again and tries again. Misses, but it’s out of bounds to France.
Batum kicks out to Wembanyana, and this time, the big man hits the 3.
USA 93-84 France, 1:19 left, 4th quarter: Booker works inside. Shot clock is running down. He kicks it to Curry … who hits again! He’s roaring with excitement!
USA 90-84 France, 1:43 left, 4th quarter: De Colo is ageless. He knocks down a jumper.
Curry again!
Batum again … or, for the first time? Anyway, he also hits a 3.
Medal count update: Gold for China in boxing. The lead is two – 39-37 for China. They’ll likely pick up a 40th tomorrow but will get no more barring a monumental upset somewhere.
Can the US basketball teams both beat the host nation to get back in it?
USA 87-79 France, 2:22 left, 4th quarter: Durant hits both free throws. Timeout France.
Are you not entertained?
USA 85-79 France, 2:22 left, 4th quarter: Yabusele misses the first free throw but makes the second.
Curry misses a floater in the lane. This is getting dicey.
France again try to run, but Wembanyana misses. Then he gets the rebound and scores.
USA need an answer.
How’s Curry for an answer? That’s a 3.
Wembanyana again rushes a 3. Yabusele fouls Durant.
USA 82-76 France, 3:32 left, 4th quarter: Coulibaly gets a finger on a 3 from Booker. Durant gets the rebound but misses, and France go to the races but can’t keep control.
LeBron is back. So is Wembanyana. The showdown is on.
But LeBron’s first action is an errant inbounds pass. De Colo slithers through the lane to score at the other end.
Steal by Yabusele. LeBron fouls him.
USA 82-74 France, 4:46 left, 4th quarter: Wembanyana hits the second of two free throws.
Yabusele replaces Wembanyana. Can the USA build on the lead with the French star out? Or will Yabusele carve them up?
Holiday misses a wide-open 3.
Lessort makes a sweet post move to score past Holiday.
Holiday feeds LeBron for the slam.
Coulibaly scores from the elbow. LeBron turns it over and takes a seat.
USA 80-69 France, 6:29 left, 4th quarter: Durant fouls Lessort, who makes the second of two free throws.
Lessort fouls Durant, who isn’t happy with it.
Replay shows Holiday got away with traveling in the corner.
James misses as he goes against Wembanyana, but Booker gets the rebound, and Holiday hits a 3.
Wembanyana misses a Caitlin Clark-range 3. Not great shot selection from the youngster.
Batum with the steal, and Davis fouls Wembanyana.
USA 77-68 France, 7:39 left, 4th quarter: Wembanyana tries a 3 that would cut it to one possession, but he’s off target. Durant draws a foul from de Colo.
Durant misses a 3, but there’s Davis again inside to clean the board and slam it home.
Fournier misses a 3 with the shot clock buzzer sounding, but Lessort gets the rebound and putback.
Holiday dishes to Durant with the shot clock winding down, and Durant hits a 3.
End 3rd quarter: USA 72-66 France
Davis scores on a putback, then blocks a Yabusele shot.
Durant loses the ball to de Colo. Davis fouls at the other end, and Wembanyana comes back in.
Cordinier misses two free throws.
Durant misses a 3. Davis gets the rebound, but Wembanyana steals it.
Davis steals it right back intercepting a pass, and Durant completes the alley-oop to Edwards for the slam.
But Fournier hits a 3, and as the USA try to hold for the last shot, de Colo steals a pass and puts up a layup at the buzzer. It’s called goaltending, and the lead is six.
Told you it wasn’t over.
USA 68-61 France, 2:11 left, 3rd quarter: The crowd roars! France have momentum!
LeBron pulls up at hits a 3.
Fournier scores inside on an in-bounds play – that’ll drive a coach crazy.
Davis turnover, and LeBron will take a break. Can the USA hang on without him for now?
USA 65-59 France, 3:05 left, 3rd quarter: Wholesale subs both ways. Wembanyana rests. Tatum is in for Durant.
Curry loses the ball. Gobert and Holiday miss. Fournier hits a 3, and the lead is six.
USA 65-56 France, 4:01 left, 3rd quarter: Yabusele loses control of the ball. LeBron misses in the lane.
Wembanyana scores inside, but after a back-and-forth sequence of turnovers, Embiid throws the length of the court to LeBron for the slam.
But Wembanyana answers with a 3, and the USA call timeout.
USA 63-51 France, 5:38 left, 3rd quarter: De Colo hits a 3 off a Yabusele offensive rebound.
Stunning ball movement from the USA, and Durant hits a fadeaway near the free throw line.
Wembanyana loses his shoe. Several people could live in that.
USA 61-48 France, 6:37 left, 3rd quarter: Curry gave a little dance after that one. He’s in the groove.
This game isn’t over by a long shot. But if the USA push it to, say, 20 …
De Colo replaces Albicy, which bumps up the French team’s average height. He’s 6-5.
Embiid intercepts a pass, but then he and Gobert get tangled up. Refs call a double foul. But they also give a technical foul – NBC says to Davis for stepping out on the court, the IOC feed says to the bench. Inanimate objects can’t foul out.
De Colo hits the single free throw for the technical.
USA 61-47 France, 6:57 left, 3rd quarter: France have a huge lineup out there – Wembanyana (7-foot-3), Gobert (7-1), Yabusele (6-8), Batum (6-8) and Albicy (5-10). OK, except for the point guard.
Yabusele makes two free throws. Curry makes another 3.
Timeout France.
USA 58-45 France, 7:36 left, 3rd quarter: Albicy comes in for his first action of the game.
Embiid hits from inside the arc to restore the double-digit lead. Wembanyana cuts it back to eight.
Back to 10 – Embiid draws a foul from Yabusele and hits both free throws.
Durant picks off the ball. James goes in transition and kicks it out to Curry for 3. It’s good.
Albicy feeds Yabusele, who scores on a post move.
Embiid gets back in the post and draws a foul. Embiid has heard plenty of boos from the French crowd – he was eligible to play for France but did not. He shrugs it off and hits both free throws.
Not sure if this clip will work outside the USA, but we’ll give it a shot …
GUERSCHON YABUSELE ON LEBRON JAMES. 😳
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 10, 2024
📺 NBC and Peacock | #ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/cjrH6Q9Epd
Halftime stats
The USA have taken the rebounding lead, 21-20. They’re shooting 56% inside the 3-point arc and 45% outside it. France are still struggling from outside at 19%.
Yabusele leads France with 15 points, including the slam over LeBron. Maybe a statement game for the one-time Boston Celtics player who bounced between the NBA and Maine Red Claws while in the USA? He’s a EuroLeague champion with Real Madrid.
Wembanyana has 13.
For the USA, Booker has 13, while LeBron has seven points, five rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block. Curry has five assists.
Mailbag
Luis Zayas: “It is time for Olympics to limit the number of professional players to one per nation, maximum two. It has been twenty years since it made sense to bring world recognition to the game. That has been achieved.”
If basketball can build its World Cup into something approximating soccer’s World Cup, then maybe. But it’s been difficult to get the USA to pay much attention to that competition for some reason.
Ben Corntassel wants to know who’s reffing today. The crew chief is Antonio Conde (Spain), along with Julio Anaya (Panama) and Wojciech Liszka (Poland). Anaya was also on the crew for the USA’s win over Serbia.
Updated
Halftime: USA 49-41 France
Cordinier draws an offensive foul far from the basket on Holiday. Fournier misses, and Holiday hits a 3 for instant revenge.
Wembanyana feeds Yabusele, who has been outstanding, for a reverse layup at the buzzer.
What a half!
USA 46-39 France, 0:49 left, 2nd quarter: Adebayo commits a second foul, sending Yabusele to the line for two. Davis returns to the game while Adebayo sits.
Yabusele hits the first but again misses one, but this time, Wembanyana grabs the rebound and scores.
USA 46-36 France, 1:32 left, 2nd quarter: Will that slam give France some momentum?
Not right away. Curry hits another 3. Then LeBron gets a steal and feeds Booker, who lays it in despite Fournier fouling him from behind.
Booker hits the free throw for a double-digit lead.
USA 40-36 France, 2:13 left, 2nd quarter: LeBron makes the free throw – the first by either team!
Adebayo fouls Yabusele with one second left on the shot clock. Now France will have its first free throws. Three of them, in fact. He makes the first two and misses the third.
Booker misses a 3 as he falls out of bounds. De Colo also misses, and Durant hits a long one.
Yabusele works inside and SLAMS OVER LEBRON, who’s called for the foul. Yikes. He also makes the free throw.
USA 36-31 France, 3:26 left, 2nd quarter: De Colo scores, but then LeBron simply drives the length of the court, lays it in and is fouled.
Timeout France.
USA 34-29 France, 3:59 left, 2nd quarter: Booker misses this time, but Adebayo grabs the rebound, and some nifty passes leave one of the best shooters in history, Stephen Curry, wide open for 3. Makes it.
Yabusele scores inside. Adebayo scores way inside for a nice dunk.
And now we’ve got players facing off at midcourt.
USA 29-27 France, 4:41 left, 2nd quarter: Bam Adebayo is in as the USA sub four players. Their first possession results in a shot-clock violation.
Adebayo plays good D on Wembanyana.
Miss, miss, miss, then LeBron takes a defensive rebound and drives the lane for a tough layup against Wembanyana.
Wembanyana answers on the other end in the post.
Booker steps up for a 3.
USA 24-25 France, 7:10 left, 2nd quarter: Durant misses, then Coulibaly and Strazel do a give-and-go for a Coulibaly dunk.
Timeout USA.
USA 24-23 France, 7:47 left, 2nd quarter: Davis blocks a shot and takes a feed from Holiday in transition to score.
Wembanyana with a putback slam that’s legal in FIBA and illegal in the NBA – right on the rim.
Davis gets a rebound and a dunk.
Finally another 3 for France – Yabusele.
The veteran Nando de Colo will make an appearance.
Durant misses, and Strazel banks in a 3. Suddenly the lead has dropped from seven to one.
Can this be a best-of-seven series? This is fantastic to watch.
France have the rebounding edge, 13-10, but they’re 1-for-9 from 3-point range. The USA scored nine points on transition.
Wembanyana has seven – four other players have two each.
Booker has seven; Edwards has six.
End 1st quarter: USA 20-15 France
From the timeout, Wembanyana comes back in, and LeBron takes his first break.
Coulibaly scores inside after Gobert posts up against Tatum – hey, it wasn’t a dunk!
Wembanyana rushes a 3-pointer. Fournier also hits the front of the rim.
Edwards steps back and hits a 3.
USA 17-13 France, 1:59 left, 1st quarter: Steal by James, over to Curry, then to Tatum for the transition slam.
Fournier has to shoot from nearly midcourt to beat the shot clock. He misses, but so does Tatum from the corner.
Gobert gets a dunk inside – are all of France’s points off 3s and dunks?
Edwards with a steal, over to Davis, back to Edwards, who calmly sees the defense retreat and hits a 3.
Timeout France.
USA 12-11 France, 4:01 left, 1st quarter: Durant draws a foul from Gobert. Reminder: five fouls in international basketball, not six as in the NBA.
Jayson Tatum didn’t play against Serbia, but he’s coming in now. He had a big game against France in the final in Tokyo.
USA 12-11 France, 4:52 left, 1st quarter: That’s 7 points already for Wembanyana.
Then James makes a slick pass to Booker for 2.
Wembanyana will take a break. Rudy Gobert comes in. This is a talented team.
Updated
USA 10-11 France, 6:14 left, 1st quarter: Wembanyana scores inside.
Curry has his second turnover in a minute. Wembanyana tries another 3 but misses.
Ntilikina fouls Durant, who takes exception.
Yabusele goes up in transition, but JAMES SLAMS IT AWAY.
And Durant hits a 3.
Booker scores inside in transition. But then Yabusele slams on a feed from Wembanyana, Curry misses a 3, and Wembanyana slams in transition.
USA 5-5 France, 8:50 left, 1st quarter: A miss each way to start, then a feed to James in transition for the first points of the game.
Wembanyana answers with a 3. Booker responds in kind.
Batum gets a putback slam.
Tipoff: USA win possession.
Starters
France: Ntilikina, Cordinier, Batum, Yabusele, Wembanyana
USA: Curry, Booker, Durant, James, Embiid
And it’s gold for the US women in the 4x4. By a long way.
The track and field team have done their part for the medal haul. Over to you, LeBron and company.
But the medal count is one thing – this is, as I said in the preamble, a game we should savor. It could be a classic.
Medal count
The USA have overwhelmingly won the total medal count in these Olympics, and any weighted system that counts golds more than silvers or bronzes will also favor the 2028 host nation.
But we’re told that only gold medals matter for some reason. Apparently, no one told Shelby McEwen, who agreed to a jumpoff after tying for first in the high jump and wound up taking silver.
The USA trail China by two gold medals, 38-36. China only have a reasonable shot at two more – they’re in the finals of women’s middleweight boxing (later today), and they’re favored in women’s heavyweight weightlifting (tomorrow).
That means the USA will have to take advantage of their remaining opportunities. This is one of those opportunities. The others are the track cycling women’s omnium, the women’s volleyball final, the women’s 76kg wrestling final, and the women’s basketball final.
But first, the women’s 4x400m relay, which should end right before this game starts. If they get on with it.
Who’s who
FRANCE
The veterans are captain and small forward Nicolas Batum (age 35, Philadelphia), point guard Andrew Albicy (34, Herbalife Gran Canaira/ESP), center Rudy Gobert (32, Minnesota) and shooting guard Nando de Colo (37, LDLC ASVEL/FRA).
Other NBA players: Wembanyana (San Antonio), Evan Fournier (Detroit), Bilal Coulibaly (Washington). The latter is the youngest on the team at age 19.
USA
LeBron James (L.A. Lakers) is 39, and it doesn’t show. Stephen Curry, the captain, is 36. Kevin Durant (Phoenix) is 35, Jrue Holiday (Boston) is 34, and Joel Embiid (Philadelphia) and Derrick White (Boston) are both 30.
Coach Steve Kerr has controversially kept Jayson Tatum (Boston) on the bench for a lot of the tournament. Tyrese Halliburton (Indiana) also has seen scant playing time.
Stat leaders (per game)
FRANCE
Points
Wembanyama 13.8
Yabusele 12.8
Cordinier 10.6
Fournier 10.2
Rebounds
Wembanyama 10.2 (second among all teams)
Gobert 4.2
Assists
Wembanyama 3.6
Batum 2.4
Blocks
Wembanyama 2.0 (first)
Gobert 1.6 (sixth)
Batum 1.0
Steals
Wembanyama 2.2 (first)
Cordinier 1.4
USA
Points
James 14.2
Edwards 13.8
Durant 13.6
Curry 13.0
Embiid 13.0
Assists
James 8.2 (second)
Holiday 3.5
Booker 3.4
Rebounds
James 7.0
Davis 6.2
Tatum 6.0 (in limited playing time)
Blocks
Embiid 1.3 (sixth)
Turnovers
James 3.8 (fourth)
3-pointers
Curry 2.8 (seventh)
Durant 2.2
Booker 2.2
Preamble
We all wanted this final, didn’t we?
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.
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.
Welcome to one of the most-anticipated events of these Games, with good reason.
Beau will be with your shortly. In the meantime, here’s Bryan Graham on the hostile atmosphere that will greet the US as they face the host nation:
The Americans understand that France will pose a far different challenge amid a uniquely hostile environment inside the cauldron-like Bercy Arena, where the hosts will look to become the first side to win men’s basketball gold on home soil since the United States in 1996. Surely it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the curious Victor Wembanyama, who in one night could not only join Léon Marchand, Teddy Riner, Antoine Dupont and the Brothers Lebrun as emblems of the Paris Olympics, but encroach the broader folk-hero pantheon of Cerdan, Hinault, Killy and Zidane by toppling the 17-time Olympic champions on the eve of the closing ceremony.
“We’re expecting them to play the game of their life,” Steph Curry, an Olympic debutant, said. “They’re going to have the home-court adrenaline, they’re riding a big momentum after these last two games. We’ve got to expect them to play great, but we expect that from ourselves as well.”
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