This is why Steph Curry is wearing USA across his chest at 36 years old, playing in the Olympics for the first, and assuredly last, time. A perfectly timed chef’s kiss from the Warriors superstar sent Serbia into agony from one of the greatest performances ever on a global stage, sending Team USA to the gold medal game after rallying back for a 95-91 win Thursday at Bercy Arena.
Curry through the first four games of the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics was subjected to being a secondary scoring option, searching for his shot and opting to help get his teammates open looks as the Americans made easy work of their opponents. In a span of 11 days, they already had beaten Serbia by 26 points twice, first during Team USA’s slate of five exhibition games and also to open group play. Serbia then came out Thursday as a team with unmatched energy that fed into them scorching the United States’ defense from long distance.
No more waiting around. Curry knew the assignment and threw on his hero’s cape to save the day.
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Curry scored 36 points and was a plus-20 in a four-point win while playing 33 minutes. He took 19 shots and made 12. The game’s greatest shooter who changed how the 3-point shot is viewed cashed nine threes, two more than the rest of his teammates combined to make. His eight rebounds were second only to LeBron James’ 12.
“This is everything I imagined it to be,” Curry said after the win. “Obviously this is my first go around in the Olympics. Knew we were going to get challenged by a great Serbia team and to have to beat them three times this summer was going to be tough. I just kind of got lost in the moment of understanding how big the stage is and what’s at stake for this team, and it was special.
“This is the most fun I’ve had in a very long time.”
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The Curry Flurry everyone had been expecting during these Olympics happened in a hurry. Curry scored the first two points of the day 11 seconds into game off a jumper assisted by James. He missed his first 3-point attempt but then buried his next eight seconds later to give him Team USA’s first five points. In a blink, he had scored 14 of Team USA’s first 15 points.
At the end of the first quarter, Curry already was up to 17 points and had made five 3-pointers. The previous game, he scored seven points and had made five threes before Thursday through Team USA’s first four games at the Olympics.
But Curry received little, if any, help at all. His 20 first-half points were three fewer than the rest of his teammates scored between them as Team USA trailed by 11 points at halftime, and had to crawl out of a 17-point deficit. The last time they were down at the half was the semifinals of the last Olympics, when Australia held a three-point lead prior to the United States turning it on and beating them by 19.
Serbia never slowed down, until the fourth quarter when Curry, James and Kevin Durant, the three greatest basketball players of a generation, scored Team USA’s final 13 points.
All summer, no team had been able to keep up with Team USA’s array of scoring options. Despite Curry not being himself as a 3-point shooter, the deep ball was unmatched from their opposition -- until they faced Serbia, a team that made one fewer 3-pointer than Team USA. The difference was Curry’s ninth and final three, coming off a Joel Embiid screen where James hit him square in the chest at the top of the arc.
Bang. Good night, Nikola Jokić. Good job, good effort Serbia.
Over the final 2 minutes and 24 seconds, Curry scored seven points and had one steal that he converted into a layup to extend the lead to five. With Team USA up by two and only eight seconds remaining, he sank two straight free throws to put them ahead by four for the final points of the game.
“It was only a matter of time before he had one of these games,” James said. “We can see it every day. He puts too much work in not to have a game like this. We wouldn’t want it any other way. It was a perfect time for Chef to come out and do what he did.”
“Man, that was a God-like performance,” Durant said, via Ben Golliver of the Washington Post.
The 36 points Curry scored were the most in a knockout round game by any Team USA men’s or women’s player. And remember, he had scored a grand total of 29 points through the first four games of the Olympics. This was Game 6 Steph for the whole world to see. This is why Curry decided to play in the Olympics once and for all.
“To dig deep like we did with this group and get a win, it’s special,” Curry said. “I’m kind of basking in that right now. Obviously know we got another tough challenge with France on their home court.”
Curry saved Team USA and coach Steve Kerr alike, reminding the Warriors that not doing everything in their power to maximize his final years would be a massive waste of time for one of the game’s all-time greats, and everybody else equally as well.
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