Serbia was staring at an Olympic gold medal game in Paris.
Nikola Jokic was on the verge of proving to the basketball world that the three-time NBA MVP really was one of the best players on the planet.
Then LeBron James, Steph Curry and Kevin Durant re-assembled the $2.5 billion Avengers.
Then Jokic stumbled, faltered and disappeared in one of the most important games of his career, while Serbia returned to Olympic reality.
The official line is that Team USA trailed by a whopping 17 points on Sunday before finishing with a tense 95-91 victory inside a buzzing Bercy Arena that required Curry and James to unite like never before.
Inside the 17-point turnaround was a critical 8 minutes and 6 seconds that forever changed the 2024 Olympics for Serbia, the United States, Curry, James and Jokic.
It was 78-67 Serbia with 8:06 remaining in a semifinals contest that Team USA, thus far, absolutely did not deserve to win.
Steve Kerr’s defense had been laughable, while the head coach of the Golden State Warriors’ dynasty had once again forgotten that reigning NBA champion Jayson Tatum was a member of Team USA.
On a warm Paris night when Serbia shot 54.3 percent from the field in the first half and was a scorching 10-of-19 on 3-pointers, 2024 was looking eerily similar to the embarrassment of 2004 — but 100 times worse for a team that had been compared to the legendary Dream Team for months.
With 8:06 left and a gold medal game inching closer and closer, Serbia had gold medal momentum and mojo.
The only problem was Serbia’s best player was Jokic — who scored 17 points and dished out a game-high 11 assists, but was 0-of-6 on 3s and faced fourth-quarter foul trouble — while Team USA had Joel Embiid, Curry, James and more.
With 7:19 left, Durant drained a 3 via a James assist.
One second later, Devin Booker nailed a 3 via another James assist.
The 17-point lead was down to five — and it was about to completely evaporate.
Seven consecutive points from Embiid pulled the USA within 84-82 at the same time that Jokic was fading.
“To all you nuggets fans, nobody gives a f*** who yall lames believe is the best player in the league,” Durant tweeted on Friday.
“Players got major respect for Jok, we don’t worship him like yall do but most are in awe of his brilliance. Trolling you cornballs for rooting against us is apart of the game. Deal wit it.”
Filip Petrusev gave Serbia an 86-84 lead with 3:23 to go.
USA answered with a Curry 3, James layup and Curry layup, grabbing a 91-86 advantage that wouldn’t be given back.
It was what the Dream Team did in 1992 and Kobe Bryant’s Redeem Team pulled off in 2008, when USA basketball needed saving.
Pure and total dominance, playing off a roster that was so loaded with game-altering talent and versatility that it was almost unfair.
Team USA still must overcome Victor Wembanyama in France to win it all in a gold medal-or-total failure Olympics.
Jokic and Serbia learned the hard way in the semifinals that 17 points, in the end, is nothing when Curry and James are united on the same $2.5 billion team.
In barely 8 minutes, Team USA remembered it was a superpower and pushed Serbia away.
News Summary:
- 8 minutes of superpower dominance – How Steph Curry and LeBron James saved Team USA’s 2024 Olympics and reminded social media that Nikola Jokic was still overrated
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