One of the most stacked Team USA men’s basketball programs in decades will face Team France, in Paris, as it hopes to snag a fifth straight gold medal at the Olympics on Saturday.
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After four straight dominant, double-digit victories in competition, the U.S. squad almost lost to Team Serbia in a hotly contested semifinal matchup on Thursday. The Americans at one point found themselves in a brutal 17-point hole, and the Serbians’ advantage was as much as 13 points at the top of the fourth quarter.
A scoring clinic from the U.S., led by 30-plus-year-old veterans LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, and Joel Embiid, helped propel the Americans to a 32-15 scoring edge in the frame. The U.S. did snag the win, but just barely — 95-91.
Team Serbia will suit up against Team Germany in a bronze medal matchup ahead of the main event.
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Unike Serbia, Team France doesn’t have the best player in the world on its roster (Denver Nuggets MVP center Nikola Jokic). But the French do have a variety of NBA players, led by All-Defensive First Team center Victor Wembanyama. Four-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert of the Minnesota Timberwolves, often a matchup liability in the NBA playoffs, has become something of a problematic fit at the Olympics this year, too. Gobert is now playing a ceremonial role off the bench as a backup to the young San Antonio Spurs big man.
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Here are the top three X-factors worth monitoring for Saturday’s gold medal game.
All-Star Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid, the 2023 league MVP, has served as the club’s starting five during most of Team USA’s games. He had been relatively disappointing, until the semifinal against Serbia. The 7-foot star scored 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the floor (2-of-3 from the 3-point line) and 1-of-1 shooting from the charity stripe, four rebounds, two assists, and one block.
Through Team USA’s first five games of competition, he’s averaging 13 points on .583/.545/.571 shooting splits, 4.0 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 1.3 blocks.
Despite the respectable stats, Embiid is still a major defensive risk. He started the tournament out-of-shape, and now he’s at least looking more invested offensively. But both his All-Defensive backups, All-NBA Los Angeles Lakers center Anthony Davis and Miami Heat All-Star center Bam Adebayo, could be far better at limiting the damage Wembanyama could wreak inside the paint.
Embiid couldn’t handle Jokic defensively, and it almost cost the U.S. a shot at the gold. Kerr needs to have a quicker hook for Embiid on Saturday.
All-NBA Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry, like Embiid, is a poor defender who had been enjoying a lackluster Olympic start prior to the semifinal. Curry exploded on Thursday, scoring 36 points on 12-of-19 shooting from the field (9-of-14 from deep) and 3-of-3 shooting from the charity stripe, while also grabbing eight rebounds, dishing out two dimes, and swiping one steal.
Former New York Knicks lottery pick Frank Ntilikina is a solid defender, but is such a negative on offense that he’s now out of the NBA. Curry should be able to shake him enough to get some triples, and even if Curry loses Ntilikina occasionally on the other end, Ntilikina isn’t much of a scoring threat.
All-Star Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant is set to earn the starting wing spot over Boston Celtics All-Defensive wing Jrue Holiday. He will probably be toggled between either forward spot with All-NBA Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James, but Durant has a slight edge in foot speed.
For France, L.A. Clippers forward Nicolas Batum and Real Madrid forward Guerschon Yabusele are the club’s two starting forwards. Yabusele has taken on more of the scoring burden, and thus will be Durant’s primary defensive charge when they’re on the floor together. He has had an impressive tournament run, including scoring 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the floor and 3-of-3 shooting from the charity stripe, while nabbing seven rebounds during the surprise semifinal win over Team Germany. Durant will need to be ready to close out on Yabusele if he leaks out to the 3-point line.
According to BetMGM Sportsbook, Team USA is a -16.5 point favorite to win. The game’s over/under for cumulative points scored is pegged at 178.5 points.
