USA men's basketball wins gold behind Stephen Curry's late-game heroics vs. France

Team USA's LeBron James and Steph Curry were named to FIBA's All-Star Five for the 2024 Olympics men's basketball tournament.

France's Victor Wembanyama, Serbia's Nikola Jokic and Germany's Dennis Schroder finished out the Olympic All-Star lineup.

LeBron James now has an Olympics MVP trophy to add to his three NBA MVP awards.

James averaged 14.2 points, 6.8 rebounds and 8.5 assists during Team USA's six-game run to a fifth consecutive gold medal.

Victor Wembanyama hits a 3 for France to cut USA's lead to six. But Steph Curry follows up with a high-arching shot over a double-team for his third straight 3-pointer.

Steph Curry to the rescue again for Team USA.

After France twice cut the U.S. lead to six points, first on a jumper from Nando De Colo, then a three by Nicolas Batum, Curry answered both scores with 3-pointers.

USA 93, France 84 with 1:14 left.

Kevin Durant makes two free throws after rebounding a missed Victor Wembanyama three. USA builds its lead back up to eight and France calls timeout with 2:22 remaining in the game.

France cuts USA's to three, 82–79, with Victor Wembanyama tipping in his own miss.

Steph Curry follows up with a 3-pointer to stop France's run and restore USA's lead to 89–75.

The U.S. and France each trade two turnovers, both of Team USA's by LeBron James.

LeBron then commits a foul after another turnover, this one by Steph Curry, stopping Guerschon Yabusele from a dunk.

Yabusele makes one of two free throws. France cuts USA's lead to 82

Devin Booker rebounds a LeBron James miss and finds Jrue Holiday for a 3-pointer and an 80–69 USA lead.

Kevin Durant tried to take Mattias Lessort one-on-one before dishing off to Jrue Holiday. Holiday draws a double-team with Lessort trying to help as the shot clock winds down. Holiday passes to Durant for a long 3 with the shot clock expiring.

USA 77, France 68.

Evan Fournier hits a 3, followed by a steal and layup from Nando De Colo. Kevin Durant blocked the shot, but goaltending was called to count the basket. There IS goaltending under FIBA rules, folks.

The U.S. takes a 72–66 lead into the fourth quarter.

More from Anthony Davis, who gets a steal and an outlet to Kevin Durant. With a two-on-one break, fans knew a lob was coming and Durant got the ball to Anthony Edwards for a fast-break dunk.

USA 72. France 61.

Anthony Davis snared an offensive rebound and converted a layup. On the other end of the floor, he then blocks a Guerschon Yabusele shot.

USA 70, France 61.

France has cut the USA lead to 65–56 on a Victor Wembanyama 3-pointer. Timeout for the U.S.

France had a chance to cut the margin to eight points after Steph Curry turns it over. But Bilal Coulibaly can't convert a layup. Joel Embiid gets an outlet pass to LeBron James for a dunk.

No word on whether or not the France delegation will ride in that shoe during the closing ceremony on Sunday.

Initially, it looked as if Joel Embiid might have been whistled for getting tangled up with Rudy Gobert.

But referees called a technical foul on Anthony Davis for standing on the corner of the court from the bench as the ball was being inbounded.

Steph Curry sets a slip-screen for LeBron James. As France doubles LeBron, he finds Curry for an open three. USA 61, France 47 with 6:57 remaining in the third quarter.

Curry has 12 points on 4–for-8 shooting from 3.

USA coach Steve Kerr is going to ride his three stars. LeBron James, Steph Curry and Kevin Durant aren't coming out. No games left in the Olympics after this gold medal match. They have the rest of the summer to rest.

Kevin Durant arcs a mid-range jumper over Victor Wembanyama to restore Team USA's 10-point lead, 51–41.

Guerschon Yabusele gets a layup at the buzzer to close France to an eight-point margin at halftime, 49–41.

Yabusele leads France with 15 points, followed by Victor Wembanyama's 13.

Team USA is led by Devin Booker's 13 points on 5-for-7 shooting (2-for-3 from 3). LeBron James has seven, while Anthony Edwards, Steph Curry and Kevin Durant each have six.

Jrue Hoilday hits a 3 to put the U.S. back up by 10, 49–39. Team USA is shooting 45% (9-for-20) from 3, while France is struggling at 19% (3-for-16).

A 3-pointer from Steph Curry and 3-point play by Devin Booker (foul on Evan Fournier) helps the U.S. open up its biggest lead of the game, 46–36.

Guerschon Yabusele dunks over LeBron James and draws the foul. France's bench and the home crowd erupt. USA still in front, 40–36.

Team USA roars back, outscoring France 12–6 to build a five-point lead. LeBron James scored four during the run, with 3s from Steph Curry and Devin Booker. France calls timeout.

A Bilal Coulibaly dunk puts France on top, 25–24. France has scored the last eight points and the U.S. calls timeout.

Guerschon Yabusele and Matthew Strasel hit back-to-back 3s for France. Strasel's 3 banked in.

Great pace after one quarter of play. The U.S. leads, 20–15.

Devin Booker leads Team USA with seven points, followed by six from Anthony Edwards.

Victor Wembanyama also has seven points for France.

One thing to keep an eye on is France's 3-point shooting, Only 1-for-9 from behind the arc in the first.

There have been plenty of dunks so far in this gold medal game, but LeBron James provides an early highlight with a slick no-look, behind the back pass to Devin Booker in the lane.

Team USA takes a 16–13 lead with 1:59 remaining in the first quarter on an Anthony Edwards three.

France calls timeout, presumably to review whether Edwards was behind the line. France coach Vincent Collet may also be giving his guys a breather amid a fast pace.

Off a steal by LeBron James, Steph Curry gets the ball up the court to Jayson Tatum for a breakaway dunk and a 14–11 USA lead.

Jayson Tatum enters the game for Team USA. He figures to see more playing time against a bigger France lineup with 7-footers Victor Wembanyama and Rudy Gobert, along with Guerschon Yabusele in the frontcourt

Rudy Gobert comes into the game for France and Kevin Durant tries to take him one-on-one. That could be a matchup the U.S. tries to exploit

LeBron James blocks a Guerschon Yabusele layup attempt and Kevin Durant follows up with a 3 to give USA an 8–7 lead.

LeBron James opens the scoring with a dunk, followed by Victor Wembanyama nailing a 3.

Devin Booker answers with a 3 for USA before France pushes up the court resulting in a dunk for Nicolas Batum.

Kevin Durant could become the first U.S. men's basketball player to win four gold medals with a victory over France on Saturday.

LeBron James would also earn a fourth medal, having previously won two golds and a bronze.

During these Olympics, Durant became Team USA's all-time leading Olympic scorer, passing Lisa Leslie's 488 points. Durant has 502 going into the matchup with France.

Joel Embiid has been a persistent target of boos and jeers during the Paris Olympics, having chosen to play for the United States rather than France or Cameroon.

He trolled the fans during the win over Puerto Rico in group play and danced after the thrilling semifinal victory over Serbia, making the DX "suck it" chop. That's apparently a theme for Embiid going into Saturday's gold medal game.

The fans at Paris' Bercy Arena are ready for a "rendezvous with history" as a banner in the stands says:

Thus far, the history between the United States and France in men's basketball is a 6–1 record for Team USA. That includes a U.S. 87–82 victory in the Tokyo Olympics' gold medal game four years ago.