PARIS—Steve Kerr used the word humbled, and that was how you could tell he really understood. His version of the United States dream team played Nikola Jokic and Serbia in the Olympic men’s basketball semifinals Thursday, with France waiting for the winner. A Canadian might have darkly muttered: That could have been us, if we were tougher.
The Serbians were tough. They went right at the Americans, with Jokic creating heliocentric shots in the way only he can. He had one NBA guy with him, Bogdan Bogdanovic, but that didn’t matter for most of the game. Serbia led by 17 at one point and by 15 late in the third. They played like lions.
And at the end of Team USA’s 95-91 win, there was an ache: It was so close to being one of the great upsets of all time and, beyond that, so close to being a perfect game.
“I was really humbled to have been a part of this,” said Kerr, who was part of five NBA title teams with Michael Jordan or Tim Duncan, and has coached four NBA title teams in Golden State. “It was one of the greatest basketball games I’ve ever been a part of. (The Serbians) were perfect. They played a perfect game. Our coaches were saying Villanova-Georgetown.”
He was referring to the great upset in the 1985 NCAA title game, a David and Goliath game.
“But they played the perfect game, and they forced us to reach the highest level of competition that we can find, and our guys were incredible in that fourth quarter when they got it done. I’m so proud of the team, as I said, humbled by just by being part of it. It was just an incredible competition.”
Serbia hit shot after shot in the first half, and the U.S. ran on Stephen Curry, and little else. Curry was incandescent.
“Man, that was a godlike performance,” said Kevin Durant, who was quiet and then hit one of the biggest shots of the game, because he is Durant.
“(Curry) felt like he was struggling throughout the whole tournament ... and tonight he showed up in a way that, man, God was with him tonight. He was with us tonight, through Steph.
“It was one of the greatest games I’ve ever seen him play.”
Curry had 17 points in the first eight minutes as Serbia blazed away and more than matched him by committee. He finished with 36 points on 19 shots, hitting nine threes, grabbing eight rebounds, and striking a panicky terror in Serbian hearts.
But there was more. LeBron James played like a demon at 39, bullying when he could, guarding Jokic in the fourth. He had 16 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists, and he only took nine shots.
“I mean, I’m 39 years old, going into my 22nd season,” James said. “I don’t know how many opportunities and moments I’m gonna get just to be able to compete for something, you know, compete for something big, and playing big games. And tonight was a big game.”
Serbia’s Euro guys hit shots and defended until their legs gave out. As Curry said, in the third quarter the Americans were wondering if they would ever slow down.
And then the U.S. put three of the best 15 players ever on the floor in the fourth quarter — Curry, James and Durant, plus an awakened Joel Embiid and Devin Booker — and the tide came in. Serbia led by 13 to start the fourth, then 11. It vanished, bit by bit.
“Over 40 minutes, I think our talent wore them down,” Kerr said. “Again, they were brilliant, they made everything. But we always feel like we have the deepest team. We have the most great players. Other countries, they all have great players. But we have the most great players.”
“I’ve seen a lot of Team USA basketball,” Curry said. “And that one was special.”
What kept this game from being perfect was the greatest player in the world. Jokic was wonderful. He created so much, produced so much, competed so hard. In the third quarter he dropped a ball inbounds and wanted a teammate to leave it so the clock would bleed without the shot clock starting. Jokic was visibly exasperated when his teammate picked up the ball. The artist.
But Jokic also shot 8-of-18, missed all six of his three-point attempts, and committed a terrible fourth foul that led to a six-point American possession that changed the game. He’s human. Jokic only needed to be a tiny bit more perfect to make this a game that would echo through the ages. He couldn’t quite do it.
So the Serbians criticized the referees, and the Americans will play for gold. The best teams need to be perfect to beat them. Serbia almost was.
“There’s a lot of of bullshit goes on in our country, but there’s a lot of great things that come from where we come from,” Durant said.
Amen, Kevin. Amen.
To join the conversation set a first and last name in your user profile.
Sign in or register for free to join the Conversation