After the madness of the Blues' qualification, the Arena Bercy is impatiently awaiting the second semi-final between the UNITED STATES and the Serbia. And when we least expected it, it's Stephen Curry who starts strong for Team USA. The Warriors' point guard is hot and keeps making baskets… except that the Serbs do better than keeping up the pace.
They are leading by a landslide (27-23) while the “Splash Brother” has scored 17 of the 23 American points. The problem is that Nikola Jokic and his troops are finding space and hitting the target from afar, while Bogdan Bogdanovic punishes again to increase the lead to +8 (31-23) after one quarter.
Serbia at +17!
Stephen Curry's huge hot flush left all his teammates a little numb, while the “Joker” against LeBron James then took advantage of the superb Serbian team play to increase the lead to +17 (42-25).
The United States begins to be in danger against the Serbian zone, and LeBron James gets annoyed with Filip Petrusev. The “King” is angry, Joel Embiid slams a big baseline dunk by embellishing it with a funny roll and the Olympic champions limit the damage (54-43) at halftime, behind 20 points at 6/9 from long range by Stephen Curry.
The problem for Steve Kerr and his troops is that the Serbs are shooting 10/19 from afar in total…
Nikola Jokic starts with a brick from afar while Joel Embiid punishes him from afar. The gap begins to reduce but Bogdan Bogdanovic takes another crazy outside shot and both teams have a 3-point festival. Team USA tries to raise the tone on defense, but Serbia continues to sink the shots that they need to maintain the gap.
The United States nevertheless came back to within two possessions several times, but Svetislav Pesic's players increased the gap each time, a four-point action by Marko Guduric left Serbia at +13 (76-63) at the start of the last quarter! It's getting hotter and hotter for LeBron James and his gang.
Team USA makes the difference at the end
Stephen Curry continues to score baskets but Nikola Jokic also goes for his points and Team USA can't make a run. A 3-pointer from Kevin Durant with Nikola Jokic's foul, his fourth, on Anthony Davis' screen allows Devin Booker to also score a 3-pointer. And the gap is only five points (78-73) with 7 minutes 17 left in the game. Serbia calls a timeout because it could be the turning point of the game.
It is Bogdan Bogdanovic who is once again in charge of reviving his team while LeBron James has moved to defense on Nikola Jokic. The offensive rebounds are doing a lot of good to Serbia, with a valuable Nikola Milutinov. But Joel Embiid fuels the American score and LeBron James equalizes: 84 all with 3 minutes 39 left in the match!
Ognjen Dobric misses a wide-open 3-pointer and Stephen Curry doesn't miss his. Team USA takes the lead again and can finally run, through LeBron James and then Stephen Curry, to take a five-point lead (91-86)!
But don't count on Bogdan Bogdanovic to give up. The shooter goes for the basket with the foul and Serbia comes back to two small points (91-89) in the last minute.
Kevin Durant scores a killer shot, but Nikola Jokic returns to the circle. Stephen Curry makes the free throws and the United States advances to the final (95-91). But it was complicated for the American “Avengers”, who had to rely on the 36 points of the “Splash Brother”, 19 points from Joel Embiid and a triple-double from LeBron James to turn the match around thanks to a final quarter won 32-15.
Photo credit: FIBA
