Steph Curry put Team USA on his back and carried the Americans to the gold medal game at the Paris Olympics.
Do you think Mark Few was chewing out some of the greatest players on the planet in that halftime locker room? Probably not. He’s still one of the greatest collegiate coaches of all time and now he’s apart of the one of the most dramatic Olympic basketball games to ever have been played.
A historic comeback victory for Team USA over Serbia was in thanks to the greatest shooter on the planet. USA trailed 76-63 entering the fourth quarter but Steph Curry hauled the Americans to that victory in the thrilling Olympic semifinal. He put up 36 points (second-most by any player in USA basketball history) on 12-19 FG/9-14 3PT (second-most three-pointers made in an Olympic game) to go along with 8 rebounds. No one could touch Chef Curry on that court as he hit clutch shot after clutch finish.
Serbia put together arguably their most impressive performance of the tournament in thanks to their three-point shooting display as a team in the first half. USA looked lost on defense at times, leaving Serbian shooters wide-open. They were gambling on steals and going under screens. Luckily, the Serbians started to go cold in the second half and finished 15-29 3PT (38.5 3PT%).
Filip Petrusev had some real confidence throughout this game, especially when he started jawing at LeBron James. That was a pretty ballsy move but I respect it. He was guarding King James for majority of the semifinals which is insane to think how far the former Zag has come since he was playing at Gonzaga just four years ago. Petrusev finished with 9 points on 3-6 FG/1-1 3PT, 5 rebounds and 3 steals in 27 minutes of play.
Few and USA play for gold against Victor Wembanyama and France on Saturday at 12:30 PM PT. Petrusev and Serbia will be playing for a bronze medal against Germany on Saturday earlier in the morning at 8:30 AM PT. You can watch the exciting action on USA Network, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com.
Arden Cravalho is a Gonzaga University graduate from the Bay Area… Follow him on Twitter @a_cravalho