U.S. men escape Serbia as Steph Curry, LeBron James take over in Olympic semifinal

PARIS — They needed the Avengers.

The U.S. men, whose NBA titles and MVP awards and Olympic golds precede them, didn’t wear masks or capes, but they stormed Bercy Arena in the fourth quarter Thursday to lift Team USA basketball over Serbia, 95-91. The win — sure to be an instant classic — put the U.S. into the finals against host nation France.

Some of the greatest players of all time, and certainly the faces of a golden era in the NBA that is watching its sunset, overcame not just a 17-point deficit, but a Serbian team that Team USA coach Steve Kerr described as playing “perfect.”

Stephen Curry, LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Joel Embiid — four former MVPs on the floor for the fourth quarter of a furious comeback that was needed to stave off a total reordering of the basketball universe. Not only is the U.S. chasing its fifth consecutive gold medal, but a team of 11 All-Stars, with the aforementioned names on the marquee, simply could not lose in a semifinal without being labeled a failure of the most profound order.

Instead, those four men, and the others who joined them at times on the court wearing the American white uniform, delivered a performance that will be remembered for a long time.

“Serbia was brilliant today and I am really humbled to have been a part of this game,” said a hoarse Kerr, in a massive scrum of reporters at the loading dock of Bercy Arena. “It’s one of the greatest basketball games I’ve ever been a part of.”

Curry scored 36 points — one shy of Carmelo Anthony’s U.S. Olympic record — including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 2:24 left and two foul shots within 10 seconds that sealed the victory. Curry’s point total was not only the most by any U.S. player this summer, but he eclipsed his total for his previous four Olympic games combined (28 points).

James delivered an Olympic triple-double with 16 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists. He has the only two triple-doubles in U.S. Olympic history; the last was 12 years prior in London. James tied Thursday’s game at 84 with a driving layup at 3:41, and it was his pass to Curry that assisted the go-ahead 3. Kerr said James guarded reigning NBA MVP and Serbian superstar Nikola Jokic in the fourth quarter the Americans won, 32-15.

Embiid played his best game with Team USA, scoring five of his 19 points in an electric fourth quarter in which he made Jokic work on the defensive end. He shot 8-of-11 from the field and added four rebounds in 27 minutes.

Durant is the Americans’ all-time leading scorer trying to become the first Olympic men’s player to win four golds. This was one of his worst games for Team USA, but seven of his nine points came in the fourth quarter. He was scoreless at halftime and didn’t find a bucket until late in the third, but was picking up full court on defense as part of a relentless comeback.

The Serbians’ 17-point lead was in the second quarter. They were ahead by 15 with 32 seconds left in the third. The Serbians shot their way to 15 3s, played through Jokic and capitalized, for three quarters, on the wide-open shots he created for teammates.

Until the Avengers arrived.

“They’re a really good team and it’s hard to beat the team three times but to come back the way we did — I’ve seen a lot of team USA basketball and that was special,” Curry said.

The United States will play France in a rematch of the Tokyo Olympics final from three years ago after the French stunned World Cup champion Germany.

Jokic had 17 points and 11 assists; Bogdan Bogdanovic added 20 points and Aleksa Avramovic scored all 15 of his points with four 3s in the first half.

The Americans blew out Serbia in two games earlier this summer, including at the start of the Olympics. It was almost like the Serbians sandbagged those games; their actions were much faster and they used Jokic to dictate the pace of play more, which led to so many open 3s for teammates.

Serbia thrived in the first quarter despite Curry’s early onslaught. Curry opened the game scoring 14 of the Americans’ first 15 points and drilled five 3s in the quarter, but the Serbians forced turnovers with their ball pressure and poked numerous holes in the Americans’ usually stout defense.

Serbia’s 31-23 lead at the end of the first quarter ballooned in the second. The Serbians connected on 10 3s in the first half — with help from Avramovic — while the Americans were caught in too many pick and rolls worrying about Jokic.

James’ and-1 on a vicious post move against Bogdanovic made it 54-43 Serbia at halftime. James scored nine in the half, enough to pass Anthony (336 career points) for second place in U.S. men’s history in Olympic points. The Americans got as close as six points in the third, but a brutal, four-point play on a 3-pointer and foul shot by Marko Guduric made it 76-61 Serbia, with a half minute left in the third.

“They were perfect,” Kerr said. “They played a perfect game. Our coaches were saying Villanova-Georgetown (1985 NCAA title game, won by Villanova), for all of our older readers and viewers out there.

“But they played the perfect game and they forced us to reach the highest level of competition that we could find. And our guys were incredible in that fourth quarter and they got it done.”

Instead of hand-wringing and soul-searching for the Americans between now and the Los Angeles Olympics, they can focus on a rematch with France and another gold medal.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.