ISTANBUL – Team USA won the Paris Olympics men’s basketball gold Saturday, 98-87, against host France.
Stephen Curry scored a team-high 24 points at Bercy Arena, while Lebron James posted a double-double with 14 points and 10 assists.
Devin Booker and Kevin Durant added 15 points each.
Despite Victor Wembanyama’s 26 points and seven boards, to go along with Guerschon Yabusele’s 20 points, the French national team could not avoid the loss.
Team USA has now won five straight gold medals since 2008 and eight of the last nine Olympic tournaments, picking up their 17th overall gold.
Since 1992, when the Olympics first allowed professional players to participate, the US has claimed gold in all the Games except in 2004, when it settled for bronze after losing to Argentina, which managed to capture gold and its first Olympic medal in basketball after defeating Italy 84-69.
France brought home silver for a second straight Olympics as it also lost the Tokyo 2020 final to the US, 87-82.
Serbia gets bronze
Earlier, Serbia upset world champion Germany 93-83 to claim a third Olympic medal.
After finishing second in Atlanta in 1996 and Rio de Janeiro in 2016, the Serbian squad took bronze behind a triple-double from three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic, who scored 19 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists.
Franz Wagner was the high scorer for Germany with 18 points and nine boards. (Anadolu)