MANILA – Team United States of America (USA) will try to notch its fourth gold in the Olympics when it battles France in the men’s basketball finale of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics at 10:30 a.m. today at the Saitama Super Arena in Tokyo, Japan.
USA and France have previously faced each other on the opening day of the Summer Games, where the latter toppled the former, 83-76.
USA – the three-time Olympic champion – booked a slot in the gold medal bout after a come-from-behind 97-78 victory over the Australia Boomers on Thursday afternoon.
Trailing 26-41 in the second period, the Americans banked on back-to-back triples by Devin Booker and Jayson Tatum and inside baskets from Kevin Durant and Jrue Holiday to scrape the deficit to 42-45 at the half.
The squad continued with its rampage and posted 46-45 on two straight baskets by Holiday. Consecutive hits by Durant and Booker stretched the gap to 74-55, heading into the fourth.
The Australians made their last push in the fourth quarter with five straight points from Patty Mills, but the Americans got timely conversions from Khris Middleton and Zach LaVine to seal the win.
Durant top-scored for the USA with 23 points, Booker had his best game in the Summer Games with 20 markers, while Holiday had 11 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists.
On the other hand, France entered the championship round at the expense of Slovenia on Thursday, 90-89, after a game-saving block by French Nicolas Batum on Slovenian Klemen Prepelic.
Nando De Colo tallied 25 points, while New York Knicks gunner Evan Fournier added 23 markers as France will have a third crack at upsetting the USA after failing to do so in their two previous Olympic finals in 1948 and 2000./PN
