The U.S. men’s basketball team nearly had its recent Olympic dominance come to an end in Paris on Thursday.
The team beat Serbia 95-91 in the semifinal to keep its quest alive for a fifth straight Olympic gold.
The U.S. did lose to France in pool play at the Tokyo Games in 2021 but still took home the title.
A knockout victory of this magnitude would have stung a lot longer.
The LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Steph Curry-led squad beat Serbia in pool play and squashed opponents by an average of 25 points a game leading up to the semi.
But the Americans were in jeopardy during their rematch. They fell behind by 17 points at one point and trailed most of the second half.
But they fought back on the soft touch of Curry, who hit a 3-pointer with 2:24 left to put Team USA ahead for good, 87-86.
He scored the last of his 36 points on a free throw with 8 seconds left to seal the victory.
The Americans’ quest for a five-peat is still alive and they’ll play France for the gold medal.
