Team USA has completed an epic comeback over Serbia, winning 91-86 in Friday morning’s thrilling Olympics basketball semi-final (all times AEDT) to set up a gold medal clash with France.
After digging themselves into a huge hole, the Americans outscored Serbia 32-15 in the fourth quarter in a fierce rally led by Steph Curry and the 39-year old LeBron James, while Joel Embiid helped slow three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic.
Curry led all scorers with 36 points on 9-of-14 shooting from downtown, while James racked up a 16-point, 12-rebound, 10-assist triple-double, with the superstar duo and Kevin Durant scoring the final 13 points for Team USA.
It included an assertive run down the stretch of the fourth term where Curry’s three-pointer gave USA an 87-86 lead before layups to James then Curry extended that advantage to 91-86 inside the last two minutes.
They never trailed again.
Team USA has completed a bonkers comeback over Serbia in Friday morning’s thrilling men’s basketball semi-final.Source: FOX SPORTS
A pair of Curry free throws with eight seconds left followed by a Bogdan Bogdanovic missed three sealed the Americans’ crazy win.
Jokic led the way for Serbia with 17 points, 11 assists and five rebounds, while Bogdanovic had a team-high 20 points.
Serbia shot out of the gates with a 31-23 lead after the first term and maintained a healthy lead all game.
A wild four-point play from Serbia’s Marko Guduric late in the third quarter extended their lead to 75-61 before Durant cut it to a 13-point game at the end of three periods.
Team USA came storming back in the fourth quarter though after Jokic failed to convert a three-point play early in the term, with the Americans hitting consecutive threes to get within five points at 78-73 with just over seven minutes to play.
Steve Kerr’s side kept surging in a 11-4 run — capped off by a James layup —to tie the scores inside the last four minutes.
“It’s unravelling for Serbia,” Australian legend Andrew Gaze said on Channel 9 as Team USA’s superstars took over in the clutch.
It kept alive the United States’ quest for a fifth consecutive gold medal, facing host France in Sunday’s final.
Durant will go for his fourth gold, which would be a men’s record.
“Gotta get in the hard way. We was preaching that the whole fourth quarter,” James said in an oncourt TV interview.
“Beating a team three times in the last three weeks, we know it was gonna be difficult. We knew Serbia was gonna give us everything they had. Kudos to Serbia, but we came through.
“Chef Curry with a (great) Chef Curry game, Joel was big time for us. And we needed it, we needed it.”
Curry carried Team USA early, with 14 of their first 15 points for a quick two-point lead.
But they coughed up seven unanswered points, a Serbia run capped by Embiid throwing a bad pass for a turnover and uncontested basket going the other way.
The 31-23 deficit after one seemed surmountable, but that’s when Team USA let the game get away from them. They coughed up an 11-2 run to open the second quarter and fell behind by 17.
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Vasilije Micić banked in a three-pointer to push the lead to 39-25. Then, after Jokic blocked James at the rim, Micic found the three-time NBA MVP for an and-one.
That capped an 11-2 blitz and saw Jokic serenaded by chants of “MVP! MVP!” from the Parisian crowd in Bercy Arena.
Team USA trailed 42-25 with 6:25 left in the half, and spent the entire rest of the afternoon chasing.
It took them until the final moments to catch up.
It was sloppiness and turnovers that cost Team USA for most of the contest.
They clawed within 65-59, but they saw Marko Guduric’s 4-point play cap an 11-2 Serbia run and push their deficit back to 76-61 in the final minute of the third quarter.
It was a mountainous hill to climb, but Team USA did it.
After pulling with 84-80, Durant rebounded a Serbia miss and Embiid hit a fade over Jokic with four and a half minutes left.
Earlier, host nation France fought off a late comeback from Germany to win 73-69 on Thursday and reach the final of the Olympic men’s basketball with four-time reigning champions the United States or Serbia lying in wait.
Guerschon Yabusele led Tokyo silver medallists France with 17 points and Isaia Cordinier added 16. Victor Wembanyama finished with 11 points despite another poor shooting performance.
France could meet Team USA on Saturday in a repeat of the final from three years ago if the heavily favoured Americans get past Nikola Jokic’s Serbia in the second semi-final later Thursday.
Germany were one of two remaining unbeaten teams but France set the record straight in Paris’ Bercy Arena after their 85-71 loss to the same opponents in the group stage in Lille.
“The players were just remembering how they were laughing last game, how easy it looked for them,” said Wembanyama.
“I’m sure losing that game in the group phase helped us win today, definitely.” Dennis Schroder led 2023 World Cup winners Germany with 18 points. Fritz Wagner was the only other player in double figures for a team that will seek the consolation of a first-ever Olympic medal in the third-place playoff.
“They were better than us today,” said Schroder. “At the end of the day we wanted to get a medal here and that’s still open.” Germany, just as they did in the previous clash, moved into an early lead with Schroder and Wagner quickly finding their touch.
The Germans moved 28-18 in front after a three from Nick Weiler-Babb to open the second quarter, but France flipped the momentum their way as Wembanyama made his mark.
He opened his account with a shot off the glass and then stonewalled Germany centre Daniel Theis, energising the packed crowd and raising the decibel levels further with a three-point play.
France ended the half with a flourish and Wembanyama’s dunk tied the game at 33 apiece.
Nicolas Batum nailed a three-pointer to put France ahead for the first time to begin the second half, with Yabusele getting into the act as well.
Yabusele, top scorer with 22 points in the quarter-final victory over Canada, carried his team with a series of baskets, but Schroder replied in equal measure.
With the lead switching back and forth in a gripping third quarter, France surged six points clear when Evan Fournier rattled in a shot from beyond the arc.
France went into the final period leading 56-50 and looked to have left Germany in the rear view mirror thanks to a three from Wembanyama followed by a bucket from Mathias Lessort.
Another Wembanyama block on Schroder resulted in Frank Ntilikina knocking down a three in transition to put France 13 points in front.
Germany refused to roll over and France struggled to make the game safe, Wagner netting a long three to slash the deficit to two with just under 40 seconds to play.
Wagner crucially lost his balance though after hauling down a rebound in a one-possession game.
Wembanyama missed the chance to ice the game by hitting only one free throw, but Cordinier was less forgiving from the foul line as France sealed a return to the final to the delight of the home crowd.
Eastern Conference top seeds Boston slumped to their second straight loss with a 118-109 home defeat to the New York Knicks at the TD Garden.
Knicks star Jalen Brunson finished with 39 points to continue his dazzling run of recent form. The Knicks guard has now scored 35 points or more in his last five outings.
Brunson’s latest virtuoso effort included six three-pointers in a 15-of-23 shooting performance from the field.
The Knicks are third in the Eastern Conference with a 48-32 record, one game behind second-placed Milwaukee (49-31) with two games of the regular season remaining.
Boston (62-18) were subjected to a smattering of boos from their home fans at the final buzzer, and Celtics centre Kristaps Porzingis had no complaints with the crowd’s response.
“We got booed at the end for a reason,” Porzingis said.
“This was not the team that our fans love. But best believe we’re going to show up when we need to.
“We’ve got a week of work now ahead of us, a couple of games to bounce back and time to get going on all cylinders.”
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla shrugged off his team’s second straight loss, saying that a drop-off in intensity was inevitable once Boston had secured the top seeding in the postseason.
“I actually don’t mind the result of the last two games,” Mazzulla said.
“Going into the postseason with a bunch of wins and feeling good about yourself isn’t necessarily any better than going in with a bloody lip.”
Jalen Brunson of the New York Knicks. Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images
PELICANS CLOSE IN ON SIXTH SEED
The New Orleans Pelicans boosted their hopes of securing an automatic playoff berth on Thursday with a 135-123 road victory over the Sacramento Kings.
In a crucial Western Conference battle in northern California, Zion Williamson and C.J. McCollum both finished with 31 points as the Pelicans completed an impressive wire-to-wire win.
The result means New Orleans will clinch sixth place in the West — and avoid the play-in tournament — if they win their final two games, at Golden State on Friday and against the Los Angeles Lakers at home on Sunday.
The Pelicans were always in control after a devastating first-quarter performance where they raced into a 34-11 lead at one stage after an 18-0 run.
“Throw the first punch to the last punch, and go out on our shield,” McCollum said of New Orleans’ aggressive first-quarter approach.
“Understand the work, understand the preparation, have fun with it and just enjoy the blessing of being able to play this game at a high level,” McCollum added.
Sacramento’s defeat left them in eighth place in the West on 45-35 — an identical record to ninth-placed Golden State and the 10th-placed Lakers, meaning the final standings are likely to go down to the wire.
Golden State improved to 45-35 after labouring past the eliminated Portland Trail Blazers 100-92 in Oregon.
Stephen Curry led the Warriors scoring with 22 points with Jonathan Kuminga adding 19.
In other games, the Chicago Bulls romped past the Detroit Pistons 127-105 after 39 points from DeMar DeRozan and 27 points from Nikola Vucevic, ensuring they will now face the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the play-in tournament next week.
In the day’s other fixture, between two already eliminated teams, the Utah Jazz defeated the Houston Rockets 124-121.
The Sydney Kings, New Zealand Breakers and Tasmania JackJumpers are all one win away from the NBL Championship Series but the Cairns Taipans almost pulled off the stunner in Game 1 against the defending champions and can’t be ruled out.
The four teams in the NBL semi finals were confirmed on Sunday with the Taipans eliminating the Perth Wildcats and now both series’ are delicately poised with the Grand Final teams to be locked in by Sunday.
The first team into the Grand Final could come as early as Friday night with the Cairns Taipans hosting the Sydney Kings in Game 2.
Sydney beat Cairns 95-87 but the Taipans did open up a double-figure lead at Qudos Bank Arena on Wednesday even without Keanu Pinder and Tahjere McCall, and will fancy their chances to force the series to a deciding Game 3.
Taipans and Breakers earn playoff wins | 01:25
The other semi-final series is already confirmed to be going to a Game 3 with the Tasmania JackJumpers beating the New Zealand Breakers 89-78 in Game 2 at MyState Bank Arena on Thursday night.
That Game 3 will be played at Auckland’s Spark Arena on Sunday with the Kings to also host the Taipans at Qudos Bank Arena should the Snakes prevail in Game 2 on Friday on their home court.
TAIPANS SHARPSHOOTER TAKES OFFENCE TO KINGS COMMENTS
Jonah Antonio had the best performance of his NBL career in Wednesday’s Game 1 for the Cairns Taipans but Sydney Kings coach Chase Buford talked about taking advantage of him up the other end creating another level of intrigue for Friday’s Game 2.
The story of the first half of Wednesday night’s Game 1 between the Kings and Taipans at Qudos Bank Arena very quickly became little used Cairns sharpshooter Antonio.
He is in his first NBL season and did arrive with the reputation of being a knockdown shooter, but he just hasn’t been able to find a regular spot in the Taipans rotation and had made just 14 three-pointers all season long in just a total of 184 minutes.
However, he was unleashed by coach Adam Forde on Wednesday night and started throwing rockets starting with a three-pointer on the quarter-time buzzer.
The 25-year-old originally from Perth before playing college at both Wake Forest and UNLV and then spending last season in the Czech Republic hit another four three-pointers in the second quarter to help the Snakes open up a 12-point lead.
He had 17 points to half-time on 5/6 three-point shooting and while he ended the night with a career-best 20 points on 6/9 shooting from beyond the arc, Kings coach Buford didn’t mince words afterwards.
Jonah Antonio defended himself online. (Photo by Emily Barker/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
When talking about Antonio post-match, Buford did credit Antonio’s shooting performance but actually felt that him playing more minutes than usual might have benefited the Kings as his team tried to take advantage of him defensively.
The Kings did do a good job of creating mismatches and caught Antonio undersized and out of position matched up with their bigs on several of occasions. Buford was quick to point out that despite Antonio’s shooting heroics, the Taipans were outscored by four with him on the court.
That felt a little harsh and Antonio was quick to respond cryptically on Twitter afterwards adding some extra spice to Game 2 in Cairns on Friday night.
As for what Buford said, he made his feelings clear about trying to take advantage of Antonio.
“We just let Antonio go nuts. He made shots, give credit to him, but we could have guarded him a whole lot better than we did,” Buford said.
“The fact that they had Antonio come in and flame torch us in that second quarter, and he’s still minus-four. He’s got to deliver that to make up for his deficiencies at the other end of play against us, and it will be hard to replicate that performance.
“I thought we did a really good job in the second half on Waardenburg as well, I think he was a key for us in the way we wanted to guard him.
“In the second half we did a much better job and on DJ Hogg, he takes seven attempts from three but only made one and I thought we had a lot of good contests on him.
“To not allow him to make a bunch of triples is important. We might have given up threes to them, but we dominated the rim and I think we can dominate anybody at the rim especially with this group’s outs.”
Taipans’ Jonah Antonio in action. Picture: Brendan RadkeSource: News Corp Australia
JACKJUMPERS LOOK TO REPEAT THE DOSE
The Tasmania JackJumpers find themselves in familiar territory. Last season they pulled off a shock on the road in the semi finals to knock out Melbourne United in Game 3 and now the chance presents against the New Zealand Breakers on Sunday.
What a story the JackJumpers were in their inaugural NBL season. With nobody giving them a chance of success and then being shocked they even reached the playoffs, even fewer gave them a sniff of knocking off the regular season champion Melbourne United in the semi finals.
That was even more so the case when Melbourne won Game 1 before Tasmania forced that series into a decider by winning Game 2 at MyState Bank Arena.
The rest is now history with the JackJumpers winning that Game 3 in Melbourne to reach last season’s Grand Final to become one of the best stories in Australian sport as the ultimate underdog story.
They might not quite have pulled off the championship losing in the Grand Final to the Sydney Kings, but the mountain was perhaps even steeper to climb this season.
Fans are getting behind the JackJumpers. (Photo by Steve Bell/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
Once again they were written off by all and sundry, but they found a way to reach the finals once more from fourth position and then earned a spot directly in the semi finals by beating the Cairns Taipans in Far North Queensland last Thursday.
However, the JackJumpers were missing their floor general Josh Magette, captain Clint Steindl and had no answers in Game 1 of the semi finals against the New Zealand Breakers on Sunday.
The Breakers won 88-68 with the JackJumpers unable to have much impact defensively and then not get anything going offensively shooting just 33 per cent as a team and star imports Milton Doyle and Rashard Kelly combining for just 22 points on 5/19 shooting.
That meant the JackJumpers were up against it even with Game 2 at home on Thursday night against the Breakers.
It was a tight contest for three quarters and just when the Breakers were threatening to take control up five late in the third, the JackJumpers went on an 11-0 scoring run to take charge and end up winning 89-78.
It was a stirring performance in front of their raucous home crowd and now the chance presents back in Auckland on Sunday in Game 3 for the JackJumpers to repeat what they did last season and shock a team at home to reach the Grand Final.
Coach Scott Roth has no doubt his team is up for the challenge.
The JackJumpers continue to prove the doubters wrong. (Photo by Steve Bell/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
“You know that these opportunities don’t come along very often and to be in a Game 3 to get to the Grand Finals in our second year is just an incredible effort by my players, and really by staff to put us in this position again,” Roth said.
“I just think in this game we were just trying to make sure we took a swing at them and making sure we’re not going to walk out of this game, win or lose, second guessing what we do in general and how we continue to try to play throughout most of the season.
“I thought we had moments where we were really good and smart in some areas, and some areas we need to clean up but I just thought our aggression in a win or go home situation, I just thought let’s swing. And these guys swung.”
JackJumpers fans celebrate. (Photo by Steve Bell/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
MVP MAKES A STATEMENT IN KINGS’ GAME 1 WIN
Anyone unsure of the credentials of Xavier Cooks as the league’s MVP this NBL season only needed to watch the way he dominated Game 1 of the semi-final series on Wednesday night against the Cairns Taipans.
If anybody still questions if Cooks deserved to be MVP this NBL season they didn’t watch Wednesday’s semi-final Game 1 against the Cairns Taipans where he was the major difference in Sydney’s eventual 95-87 victory.
Unfortunately we won’t get to see that marquee power forward match up Keanu Pinder sidelined with a fractured orbital socket for the Taipans and who knows what impact he could have had, but Cooks was able to show all of his all-round abilities.
Whether it was being a primary ball handler, throwing down dunks or finishing around the rim or crashing the boards or creating for his teammates, Cooks was at the peak of his powers.
Xavier Cooks leads from the front. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
He finished the night with 27 points, 14 rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block on the back of shooting 11/19 from the field.
It’s a dazzling stat-line but his actual performance was even more significant than the numbers suggest with the Kings outscoring the Taipans by nine points in the 33 minutes that he was on the floor.
Whether the Snakes tried to guard him with the size of Sam Waardenburg, the smooth moving DJ Hogg or with Lat Mayen or Majok Deng, they couldn’t quell his influence and the league’s MVP put his team on his back.
It’s far from the first time. After all, Cooks is already a championship winning captain and Grand Final MVP. But for him it wasn’t about proving anything personally or any grudges with the Taipans, he simply wanted to do what he could to get close to winning back-to-back titles.
After a slow start with the Taipans leading by 12 during the first half, Cooks was delighted with his team’s response.
Xavier Cooks made a statement. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
“It was very frustrating and to give up 60 points in a half is unacceptable for any team, that’s unbelievable,” Cooks said.
“Antonio came out and hit some crazy shots, but he’s a good shooter and we’ve got to be locked in there. That really slowed our pace down, but we brought the energy and figured it out in the second half.
“My intent was to just bring the energy. I don’t really ever come out and say I’m going to get 20, that’s not my game style. I can control my effort levels and I try to go out and play as hard as I can, and get on the boys for not playing hard. It worked out.
“It’s nothing personal in this match up, I’m just fired up to bring the energy because it’s playoff time. I’ve got a lot of respect for those boys on the other side of the court and it’s nothing personal.”
BREAKERS VOW NOT TO LET OPPORTUNITY SLIP
The New Zealand Breakers have overcome everything thrown at them this season with nothing coming easy and they are determined to not let the chance slip to take advantage of hosting Sunday’s semi-final Game 3 against the Tasmania JackJumpers.
On the back of a horror last two years through COVID, the Breakers deserved things to be a little easier in NBL23 but it’s been anything but that throughout the season.
Whether it’s a tough injury run, some rough travel schedules, an enforced break thanks to COVID or even floods and cyclones at home in Auckland, the Breakers have had plenty thrown in their path this season.
Xavier Cooks wins NBL MVP | 00:45
However, they have answered every challenge, never wanted to make any excuses and that’s why they ended the regular season in second position and are still one win away from reaching a first Grand Final appearance since 2016.
New Zealand dominated the opening game of their semi-final series at home to the Tasmania JackJumpers on Sunday.
The Breakers won the game 88-68 on the back of having eight players scoring at least seven points in a tremendous team performance where they shot 53 per cent from the field, hit 9/21 from downtown and put in a commanding defensive showing.
That had them in the box seat to be the first team to win their way into the Championship Series, but playing in Hobart hasn’t been fruitful for the Breakers now the last two years and that continued on Thursday night.
Tasmania prevailed 89-78 with New Zealand unable to get the same bite at the defensive end while offensively, they shot just 44 per cent overall and 6/23 from beyond the arc.
The positive is that they now get to host Game 3 on Sunday back at Spark Arena with the winner to advance to the Grand Final.
Maor has full faith in his team. (Photo by Steve Bell/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
Coach Mody Maor continues to have full faith in what his group can produce and this is the time where all that work during the season to earn home court advantage needs to pay off.
“I honestly don’t think it’s going to be very hard to refocus for the next game,” Maor said.
“We never expected it to be easy, these are the playoffs of the NBL and every team that comes here is great. This is supposed to be high level competition and you’re supposed to be challenged and tested, and this is exactly what we’re looking forward to.
“We went through a really tough season and played well through it in order to earn home court advantage. It’s a huge thing in playoffs, I’m happy to bring Game 3 to Spark Arena and I’m really looking forward to it.”
NZ Breakers lock in second spot in NBL | 00:57
INTRIGUING VETERAN POWER FORWARD DILEMMA
Perth Wildcats captain Jesse Wagstaff has earned the right to make his own decision on his playing future, but there’s every chance his retirement could open the door for a long-awaited homecoming for seven-time Adelaide 36ers MVP Daniel Johnson.
Now that the Wildcats season is over after their loss in the Play-In Game to the Cairns Taipans, captain Wagstaff has a decision to make whether or not to continue a career that has seen him play 446 games and win six championships.
He deserves to be able to make that decision himself and there’d be nothing wrong with him deciding to play a 15th season, but what he chooses to do could have a significant impact on the immediate future of one of his great rivals, Johnson.
This time last year it would have been almost unfathomable to imagine Johnson ending his career anywhere but in Adelaide. While he grew up in Perth, he’s now settled in Adelaide where he’s played 366 of his career 414 NBL games and with seven club MVP’s to his credit, he’s a 36ers all-time great.
What does Jesse Wagstaff’s future in the NBL hold? (Photo by Emily Barker/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
There has constantly been intrigue over whether he might get to play for his hometown team one day, but with the Wildcats being well stocked for power forwards during his career including Shawn Redhage and Wagstaff, it’s just never been a good fit.
That’s not to say overtures haven’t been made. It did almost happen a decade ago when Rob Beveridge was Wildcats coach, but ultimately Johnson went to Adelaide and has put together a standout career.
So much so that no other current player has scored more points or collected more rebounds. He has been quite the reliable force whether coached by Marty Clarke, Joey Wright, Conner Henry or for the last two seasons, CJ Bruton.
However, Johnson’s minutes and overall production were at the lowest in a decade in his Adelaide time this season as he and coach Bruton clearly weren’t seeing eye to eye.
That appears to mean that Johnson’s NBL career would likely continue outside of Adelaide in NBL24 despite the fact he has built a life and family in the City of Churches.
Should Wagstaff decide to retire, it feels a natural fit for Johnson to get that long-awaited opportunity to play in Perth. One of the Wildcats’ all-time greats, Damian Martin, feels it makes sense should it all come together.
Is a reunion on the cards for Daniel Johnson? (Photo by Sarah Reed/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
“I don’t think they go after Daniel and then say that DJ’s in and then say that unfortunately we’re pushing Jesse out,” Martin said on SEN.
“I think they wait to see what Jesse wants to do and will be respectful. Knowing that DJ probably wants out of Adelaide and he’s from Perth, they have probably made an initial call at least just to gauge that if Jesse steps aside and says this is it for me, then they can quickly pull the trigger on Daniel.
“But they would also make it very clear I would assume to DJ that it’s only available if Jesse makes the decision to retire. They might even fast track Jesse’s decision because two weeks after the final game of the Grand Final Series is played, that’s when free agency begins.
“You’re kidding yourself if you don’t think that agents aren’t talking to other GM’s right now, but you can’t any sign any deals or announce them until the two-week period is over.”
