Team USA, led by Kevin Durant, beats France to win Olympic basketball gold.
SAITAMA, Japan — Call it the revenge game. Or call it reclaiming a birthright.
The United States men defeated nemesis France 8782 to win a fourth consecutive gold medal. It wasn’t easy, and the Americans had to survive a rally by France in the fourth quarter that cut their lead to three.
But the United States is on the top of the basketball podium again, for the sixteenth time.
Kevin Durant solidified his spot as the best basketball player on the planet, and one of the great Olympians ever. He scored 29 points, icing the game with two free throws with eight seconds left to add to his alltime Olympic scoring lead. In winning his third gold medal, he
matched Carmelo Anthony, the only player to have accomplished the feat.
“One of the most special guys you've ever seen lace their shoes up to take a basketball court, he carried us,” Warriors forward and Olympic teammate Draymond Green said of Durant after the victory.
Jayson Tatum had 19 points and a teamhigh seven rebounds, and Damian Lillard and Jrue Holiday each had 11 points.
The game was sweet revenge for two painful losses to France. One was in the 2019 FIBA world championship, when France eliminated the Americans in the quarterfinals. That was a vastly different team — no Durant, little star power.
But then, just to prove their 2019 victory wasn’t a fluke, the French stunned the U.S. team in the opening game of the Tokyo Olympics. The 8376 France win, in which the United States blew two leads, ended a streak of 25 Olympic wins for the Americans.
The disjointed nature of the opening game was not a shock. The U.S. team had come together hastily at the end of an exhausting NBA season, and even then had to make adjustments on the fly, replacing players due to COVID protocols and injury.
“This is way more satisfying (than 2016),” Green said after the game. “Because it’s been such a huge sacrifice.”
The Americans arrived in Tokyo without three of their key players: Holiday, Khris Middleton and Devin Booker were all playing in the NBA Finals and didn’t land in Japan until less than 24 hours before tipoff of the first game.
Still, jet lag can’t explain
away all the struggles the Americans had. They don’t have the chemistry and continuity that other national teams have. Other teams grow up playing together: the U.S. team is always put together from an ubertalented pool that often has no synchronicity.
Though commitment can’t replace years of team chemistry, it can help. Ever since the 2004 Olympics, when a lackluster U.S. team lost its opener and ended up settling for the bronze, USA Basketball has sought players who are dedicated to the process and not just look
ing to elevate their brand.
Durant exemplifies that commitment, especially this year. He already had two gold medals and was coming off an exhausting regular season, his first back from a devastating Achilles injury. He tried to carry the Brooklyn Nets to a title but couldn’t. Despite the frustration, he never wavered in his plan to come to the COVID Olympics.
“If he said no, I would have begged, cried, done anything I could to change his mind,” head coach Gregg Popovich said during the team’s training camp in Las Vegas.
But Pop didn’t have to do that. Durant was on board.
“He really loves to play basketball,” Popovich said. “He loves to win. He loves the camaraderie. He wants to be part of this all the time. And that’s his motivation.
“At the core, that’s what he loves to do. And luckily for all of us, that’s who he is. So it’s a testament to his character and just desire to be part of a team and have a challenge and seek the success.”
The U.S. team came out in the goldmedal game with more energy and determination than they did in the first matchup. But they still struggled early from the 3point line, starting 0for8 and finishing the first quarter 2for11. Maybe it was just too early in the morning. Even the basketball robot that has been a huge halftime hit at Saitama Super Arena missed his 3pointer, and the venue announcer exclaimed “I have never seen him do that before!”
But what we have seen before is Durant’s brilliance: he kept the Americans involved as he scored 12 of the team’s first 18 points. At the half he had 21 points and the U.S. team led 4439. France’s strategy of dumping the ball into Rudy Gobert was effective. The Americans started to compile fouls trying to contain Gobert in the post. Gobert (16 points, eight rebounds) fouled out in the final tense seconds.
France, winner of two silver medals in basketball, was a worthy opponent. But the gold medal is still the Americans’ birthright.