Germany and Serbia will meet for the bronze on Saturday
France, USA rally to reach Olympic gold medal game
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France will face the United States of America for the gold medal at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris after both registered come-from-behind wins in Thursdays semifinals at Bercy Arena. France outlasted reigning world champion Germany 73-69 in the first semifinal and then the USA erased a 17-point deficit to beat Serbia 95-91.
France pushes past Germany in first semifinal
The Germans dominated early to lead by double figures twice, but France came back to tie it by halftime and lead by as many as 13 in the fourth quarter. Germany made one last run, but came up short.
France outlasted reigning world champion Germany 73-69 in the first semifinal at Bercy Arena in Paris on Thursday to advance to the Olympic Gold Medal Game. The Germans dominated early to lead by double figures twice, but France came back to tie it by halftime and lead by as many as 13 in the fourth quarter. Germany made one last run, but came up short.
Guerschon Yabusele of Real Madrid paced the French attack with 17 points and 7 rebounds. Isaia Cordinier of Virtus Segafredo Bologna tallied 17 points and 7 boards, Victor Wembanyama added 11 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks and defending Turkish Airlines EuroLeague champion Mathias Lessort of Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens scored 10. Dennis Schroder led Germany with 18 points and Franz Wagner had 10 in defeat.
Germany got off to a great start with Schroder and Franz Wagner leading the way to a 2-12 lead. After a France timeout, Cordinier came alive to halve the deficit to 5. Lessort kept France close and a three by Cordinier made it 16-18. Free throws by FC Bayern Munich’s Nick Weiler-Babb gave Germany an 18-25 cushion after 10 minutes. Weiler-Babb restored a double-digit lead for Germany with a three-pointer in the first minute of the second quarter. The French defense kept Germany scoreless for nearly 4 minutes while Wembanyama led a 7-0 run to cut the margin. Bayern’s Andreas Obst revived the German attack with a triple, but baskets in the paint by Yabusele and Wembanyama evened things, 33-33, at halftime.
Nicolas Batum’s three-pointer in the first minute of the second half gave France its first lead of the night. Yabusele and Johannes Voigtmann took the scoring reins for their respective teams with three baskets apiece. Yabusele thrilled the crowd with a fourth basket for Yabusele – this time with a bonus free throw added. Germany remained close behind on Mo Wagner’s dunk and briefly regained the lead, 48-49, on a Schroder floater. A three by Cordinier got France back on top and another by Evan Fournier made it 56-50 at the end of the third quarter. Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade guard Frank Ntilikina soared for an offensive rebound and score to give France an 8-point lead. Isaac Bonga, who has been linked to Partizan for next season, gave Germany hope with a three, but Wembanyama responded in kind and Lessort scored in the paint for a 63-53 lead. After a Germany timeout, Ntilikina sank a triple for a 13-point lead. Daniel Theis and Bonga brought Germany within 67-60 and then Obst made a three and Schroder a layup to make it 69-65 with a minute to play. Franz Wagner silenced the arena with a three that made it 70-68 with 38.6 seconds remaining. The final seconds became a free-throw shooting contest and when Cordinier made 2 with 7.4 seconds left to put France up 4, the game was all but over.
USA rallies late to edge Serbia
The USA trailed for most of the night, but outscored Serbia down the stretch 18-7 to record a 95-91 win in the second semifinal. Stephen Curry scored 17 points in the first quarter and finished with 38 on 9-of-14 three-point shooting plus 8 rebounds to lead the winners. Joel Embiid added 19 points and LeBron James posted 16 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. Two-time EuroLeague Rising Star Bogdan Bogdanovic paced Serbia with 20 points, Nikola Jokic paired 17 points with 11 assists and Aleksa Avramovic scored 15 in defeat.
Serbia started out strong with crisp passing leading to three-pointers by Filip Petrusev of Olympiacos Piraeus and Avramovic and a 4-10 lead. Curry scored 14 points in the first 5 minutes to push the USA ahead 15-13. Avramovic remained hot with 2 more triples plus a steal and layup as Serbia went up 18-25. Curry kept the Americans close with another three-pointer, but free throws by Petrusev and a floater by Bogdanovic left Serbia with a 23-31 lead at the end of the opening quarter. Serbia went on a 0-11 run, fueled by threes from Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul’s Marko Guduric and former EuroLeague MVP Vasa Micic, to extend the lead to 25-42. Embiid ended the American drought with 5 points in a 7-0 run, but Petrusev and Bogdanovic kept the Serbia offense rolling. A three-point play by James made it 43-54 at halftime.
Embiid and James combined for the first 5 points of the second half, but great shooting by Bogdanovic and Crvena Zvezda Merdianbet Belgrade’s Ognjen Dobric kept Serbia in control. Dobric’s second three made it 53-65. Back-to-back threes by Curry and Jrue Holiday got the Americans within 6 only to see Micic and Guduric restore a double-digit advantage and more. Kevin Durrant’s first basket of the game drew the USA within 63-76 after three quarters. James and Curry looked to jump-start the American attack at the start of the fourth quarter. Jokic was called for his fourth foul with 7:19 remaining in the game as Durrant made a three to get within 70-78. Booker followed with a triple to get within 5. Bogdanovic countered with a jumper, but Embiid took charge to trim the gap to 82-84. James tied it with a layup with 3:40 to play. Petrusev dunked only to see a three by Curry give the USA the lead. James made it 89-86 with 2 minutes remaining and Curry upped the difference to 5. Bogdanovic’s three-point play with 56.4 seconds left got Serbia within 91-89. Curry’s free throws with 8.2 seconds left made it a two-possession game and wrapped up a come-from-behind win for the USA.