PARIS — The American basketball muscle remains strong. The rest of the world has made big strides over the past three decades, and there are brilliant talents and developing teams that show great promise.
But when Team USA sends its best, no team has yet shown it can stop the Yanks. It is now five straight Olympic golds for the USA after a hardfought 98-87 victory over the resilient and prideful host nation of France Saturday.
The indelible moment came from Stephen Curry, who made four uber clutch 3-pointers in a two-minute, 13-second stretch of the fourth quarter to turn away a French uprising.
Curry assured his first gold medal with a ridiculous fallaway bomb, silencing the home fans with his «put them to sleep» trademark move. «At that point your mind goes blank, you don't really care about the setting or the scenario or anything, it's just a shot,» Curry said. «Thankfully, that one went in… it's just rhythm and flow and confidence and that was it.» After making nine 3-pointers in the semifinals and putting in 36 points, Curry made 8 of 12 triples in the final for 24 golden points. «I've seen that from Steph a few times, but it never gets old,» Team USA coach Steve Kerr said. «It's a global game with a lot of great players, but we still feel we have the greatest players.» Curry's teammate LeBron James won his first major Most Valuable Player award at age 24, and 15 years later he added another to the most expansive MVP shelf the game has ever seen.