The Tricolors did well against the Olympic tournament favorites on Saturday, August 10 in Bercy, but lost 98-87. Stephen Curry, in particular, hurt the Blues on 3-pointers.
No miracle at Bercy: the French basketball players had to settle for the silver medal at the Paris Games, admirable for their combativeness but powerless (98-87) in front of the big favorites the Americans, crowned Olympic champions for the fifth time in a row.
Just like in Tokyo in 2021, the Blues lost at the last minute against “Team USA” and its NBA star cast. Award-winning eight-point imperial Stephen Curry (USA's leading scorer with 24 points) played a starring role in America's 17th Olympic crown. Kevin Durant, the author of 15 points, won gold for the fourth time, a men's record.
#Paris2024 | ?? TEAM USA IN GOLD?
The Blues gave it their all but the United States were too strong with Stephen Curry on fire at the end of the match (98-87)!
USA win 17th Olympic title in 20 appearances?
? Watch live: https://t.co/hHHwOiBmfS pic.twitter.com/iRxGgToOAd
— francetvsport (@francetvsport) August 10, 2024
Superstar LeBron James adds a third to his collection, proved valuable at all levels (14 points, 10 assists, 6 rebounds). Led by Victor Wembanyama, finally there offensively (26 points) and that ended in tears, for his first major competition in the blue jersey, as well as by the mover Gershon Yabusele, still an example of fighting spirit (20 points ), the blues resisted very strongly in a first period of high intensity.
Scorched by a slow start against the Serbs in the semifinals, the Americans, who had escaped only thanks to a big late-match push, learned their lesson and set a hell of a pace from the start.
The contacts were sometimes rough and names flew, proof that no one was going to give up the smallest inch, like Yabusele who crushed a big dunk on James who fell on his back, to get back to four points ( 40-36) at the end. from the second trimester. Trailing by eight units at halftime (49-41), the French got a little carried away in the third quarter, falling behind by 14 points.
But they were able to respond, thanks to the awakening of Evan Fournier, hardly successful until then but the author of eight points in a row, his total throughout the game. The French defense became biting again, the Americans missed baskets and the Blues chipped away at their deficit little by little, to the point of returning to -3, thanks to Nando De Colo with restored twenty-year-old legs. That's not counting the devil Curry, wonderful dream breaker…