2024 Olympic basketball - Four takeaways from USA vs. Serbia - ESPN

After cruising through their first four games of the 2024 Olympics, the star-studded USA men's basketball team got a scare from Serbia and three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic in Thursday's semifinal game, falling behind by as many as 17 points and heading into the final quarter down 13.

Serbia led for more than 35 minutes of a 40-minute game, but the U.S. held the advantage when it counted. The final period belonged to Team USA, which outscored Serbia 32-15 to come back and take the lead for good on a Stephen Curry 3-pointer with 2:24 remaining in the 95-91 victory.

Curry put together his best performance in a USA jersey, scoring 36 points — one shy of the American Olympic record for men's basketball held by Carmelo Anthony and the most ever for a U.S. player in a knockout game, per ESPN Stats & Information. The USA needed almost every one, along with a clutch performance from LeBron James, to advance and face host France for the gold medal on Saturday.

Here are the key takeaways from the most thrilling U.S. men's basketball game since matchups with Spain in the 2008 and 2012 finals.

This was the third meeting between Team USA and Serbia this summer. The U.S. men had comfortably taken both previous matchups, winning an exhibition in Abu Dhabi 105-79 and the opening game of group play, 110-84.

In both of those games, Serbia struggled from 3, shooting a combined 19-of-71 (27%). Not this time. Led by 4-of-6 3-point shooting from guard Aleksa Avramovic and three makes apiece by Bogdan Bogdanovic and Ognjen Dobric, Serbia made five 3s in each of the first three quarters while building a double-digit lead.

Beyond better shooting, Serbia relied more heavily on Jokic. Serbia played the USA to a draw with the Denver Nuggets star on