Olympic basketball: Team USA rallies from 17 down to survive massive scare from Serbia ... and will now play for gold

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PARIS — When it was over, when it was won, LeBron James stroked his graying beard, bowed his head and exhaled.

Stephen Curry just marveled at how Team USA, collectively, never panicked, never buckled, never bowed. Kevin Durant kept mentioning the brotherhood of the team, the pride of representing America and then laid it all out there.

“We are going to remember this for the rest of our lives,” he said.

This was the United States 95, Serbia 91.

This was a hellacious fourth-quarter, come-from-behind victory to send the Americans to the gold medal game Saturday against France, a game that had left even these three grizzled veterans — let alone the rest of the team — spent.

Physically, emotionally, mentally.

LeBron, Steph and KD, a generation of otherworldly talent. They own eight MVPs and 10 NBA titles between them. All the victories. All the buzzer-beaters. All the Game 7s, sometimes even against each other.

And yet, in the end, there was this. James is 39, Curry 36 and Durant 35, and it is quite possible that when it is all said and done in their legendary careers, what transpired here in a wild, overwrought Bercy Arena in the semifinals of the Olympics will go down as one of their favorite, if not most prideful memories.

“That,” Curry said, “was special.”

The U.S. trailed by 17 in the first half, 15 in the third quarter and 11 with just eight minutes to go, yet somehow, some way pulled it out. It needed every bit of greatness and experience and fight that it had — mostly a five-man unit of Curry, James and Durant, joined by Joel Embiid and Devin Booker, to finally stop the Serbs.

This was one hell of a victory, even for players who own a lot of them.

“We can look back at this game as the one that challenged us and tested us,” Curry said. “The one you will remember because of the circumstances of being down the entire game and needing to come back.”

Team USA has won gold in 16 of the 19 Olympics it’s competed in, including the last four. A Serbian victory would have been seen as an upset, but in reality, whatever the scoreboard said at the end, this was more a confirmation that the world has caught up to the Americans in men’s basketball.

A Serbian victory was not going to be the result of luck or fluke or even poor play by the USA. The Americans may have the deepest and most talented roster here, but you can play only five at a time and the U.S. does not have the best player in the world going for it.

That would be Nikola Jokić, proud son of Sombor, Serbia, and three-time NBA MVP for the Denver Nuggets. Jokić did everything in this game, absolutely everything. He had 17 points, 11 assists, five rebounds, a steal, a block, countless hard picks and feathery passes.

Maybe best of all, he was the steadying force for a team that appeared to become more confident with each ensuing possession as sharpshooters Aleksa Avramovic (15 points) and Bogdan Bogdanovic (20 points) kept torching the Americans.

“Serbia was brilliant today,” U.S. head coach Steve Kerr said. “They were perfect. They played a perfect game. They forced us to reach the highest level of competition we could find.”

Kerr won three NBA titles as a player alongside Michael Jordan on the Chicago Bulls. He’s won four more as the coach of the Golden State Warriors. He didn’t shy away from what this night meant.

“It’s one of the greatest basketball games I’ve ever been a part of,” Kerr said. “I’m really humbled to have been a part of this game.”

In the middle of the second quarter, Serbia was shooting 70 percent from the field and 64 percent from behind the arc. It led by 15. Eventually, doubt started creeping into U.S. thoughts.

“There was a point in the third quarter where you started to feel, not ‘Is it our night?’ but, 'Are they going to slow down?’” Curry said. “They hit some tough shots.”

In the past when the Americans have lost at the Olympics, the reason was simple. A referee controversy in 1972. College kids in 1988. A poorly constructed roster in 2004. The solution was generally the same: get more talent.

That isn’t it any more. That isn’t what this is about. The U.S. has the proper roster, or close to it. It’s just that everyone else has talent as well, turning what was once a birthright march to gold into the most competitive basketball tournament ever played, each team believing they can win it.

Curry was particularly ridiculous, pouring in 36 points — “It was one of the greatest games I’ve ever seen him play,” Durant said.

LeBron was brilliant in almost every facet of the game. There were the usual ways — 16 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists — but also loose balls and physical defense on Jokić. This was MVP on MVP, national pride pumping through everyone. Defense drove everything.

“I think we just upped the pressure,” Durant said. “We made them turn the ball over and we contested their shots.”

They whittled away at the Serbian lead. Eight and then five. Then four, and two and tied.

Finally, Curry stroked in a 3 to take the lead with 2:20 remaining. LeBron bullied down the lane for a layup and then Curry added one of his own. Serbia wouldn’t quit, couldn’t quit and pushed it to the end until Steph iced it on the line.

The postgame was equal parts elation and exhaustion, celebration and appreciation.

The Olympics used to be a three-week vacation where you showed up, showed out and left with gold. Now, it’s a rock fight that tests even the greatest of the greats.

“I’m 39 years old,” James said. “I don’t know how many opportunities and moments I’m going to get like this, to be able to compete for something, compete for something big.”

They looked spent. They know what awaits Saturday is another one of these, a forever challenge. France is physical and forceful and playing with confidence. The French will be backed by a massive home-court advantage, rows of screaming, chanting and drum-beating fans.

“Big 48 hours to get prepared for that,” Curry said.

For now, though, they stood drained but euphoric, a team of stars who thought they had seen it all, trying to make sense of it all.