This was it – two weeks of exciting Olympic basketball competition culminated in a final battle for the gold medal. In a rematch of the 2014 FIBA World Cup final, heavy favourites United States met Serbia. In stark contrast to the Americans’ undefeated record, Serbia’s path to the final wasn’t nearly as smooth. Following a less than impressive 2-3 record in group play, they beat top seeded Croatia and demolished the tournament’s feel-good story in Australia in the semi final. Serbia knew they had to play a perfect game, and hope the United States’ effort was an uninspiring one.
Q1
The U.S. appeared to lack focus coming out of the gates, with Irving and Durant committing a pair of turnovers. At the other end, stretch-four Milan Macvan opened the scoring with a triple. The Americans missed two more threes, but DeAndre Jordan got them on the scoreboard after an offensive rebound. Early on, the U.S. continued their trend of playing individual 1-on-1 basketball, playing into the hands of their opponent.
A Teodosic jumper gave the Balkans a 7-4 lead, and a measure of hope, though a Durant steal and dunk would tie the game at 7 apiece soon after. With 4:27 left in the opening frame, Nikola Jokic, who terrorized the Americans in the two teams’ first matchup in the group stage, made his first appearance for Serbia. Stefan Jovic would then go on to miss a wide open 3, while Kyrie Irving got a quick bucket at the other end, 11-9 U.S.
Cousins and Lowry both checked in with three and a half minutes remaining, and the former quickly committed an offensive foul. Lowry would also add a turnover, but in trademark K-Low style dove in for an improbable rebound between two Serbs. DeRozan checked in with 1:40 left in the quarter, and contributed a pretty assist to a Cousins and-1, returning the lead the Americans, 16-14. The quarter was evenly matched as U.S. took a 19-15 lead, and Serbia had every right to believe they could cause an upset.
Q2
Paul George began the quarter with a steal and fast break dunk to extend the lead to 6. DeRozan checked out at 9:19 in the quarter after an uneventful stretch for the Toronto Raptor. The U.S. stepped up its defensive intensity, causing a few consecutive turnovers and capitalizing at the other end, taking their largest lead of the game, 25-15. Serbia fought back with a layup and a Markovic three, cutting the lead to 8, but it was at this point that Kevin Durant began heating up. Two threes and a fast break dunk from the newly minted Golden State Warrior increased the lead to 13, 33-20, as the game appeared to run away from Serbia.
Lowry played a part in the run and checked out with seven minutes left in the quarter. Teodosic refused to give up just yet, and a hard fought layup got the Serbians within 11. Durant showed no sympathy for the CSKA Moscow point guard, draining a triple and adding a powerful dunk to extend the lead to 20, 45-25. At halftime, the game seemed all but decided, as the U.S. led Serbia 52-29 behind Durant’s 24 points, and Cousins’ 11 and 12 rebound performance. The Americans had an astounding 31-16 rebounding lead at the break.
Q3
Anthony had a quiet first half, but was determined to change that as he opened the period with a quick three pointer. The Americans maintained their active defense, intending to put Serbia on the back foot and the game out of reach early. They ended up doing just that, slowly but surely extending the lead as the minutes ticked by. Meanwhile, Lowry checked in earlier than usual in the third quarter, with 6:04 left to play.
Klay Thompson threw an alley-oop pass to DeAndre Jordan, and followed that up with a made triple to give his team a 64-35 lead, crushing Serbia’s spirit, and that of the game itself. With all the chips on the table, the U.S. showed its superiority over the storied European opponent.
Raptor fans everywhere held their breath hoping Lowry won’t leave to the NFL, as he threw a sensational full court quarterback pass to Carmelo Anthony for an easy layup. He then drove in for a layup himself, getting his first points of the game with 1:45 left in the quarter. This one certainly had an exhibition-game feel to it for most of the second half, understandable with the lead as large as it was. The score heading into the final period: 79-43 for the Americans, as they beat Serbia 60-28 in the 2nd an 3rd quarters.
Q4
Most of the period consisted of celebratory play from the soon-to-be gold medalists, and a host of substitutions to pay respect to each player’s contributions. Even Harrison Barnes got some playing time to close the game out. Among the noteworthy events were a Kyle Lowry triple and a DeMar DeRozan alley-oop after a scintillating Lowry crossover.
In the end, the talent disparity was too much for the Balkans to overcome, as the Americans would go on to win 96-66, capturing their 15th basketball Olympic gold medal.
Boxscore: http://www.fiba.com/ls/#8092&BKM400101
Notes
- On the Raptor perspective, Kyle Lowry finished the game with a fun-looking stat line of 5 points, 5 assists and 5 rebounds, playing just under 22 minutes. DeMar DeRozan recorded 6 points, 2 assists and 2 rebounds in just over 11 minutes of play. Overall, it’s essentially where they were expected to be in the food chain alongside bigger names like Durant, Irving and George. Lowry’s defense played an important part in the U.S.’ first run to blow the game open, and the tournament will be considered a success from his perspective. DeRozan showed flashes in a couple games as well, though his contributions were often restricted to garbage time in the matches that mattered most.
- Serbia appeared to lack the fight that characterized them throughout the tournament in the second half of this game, and one has to wonder if the extended schedule they played affected them (they had to play an additional four games this summer just to qualify to the final 12). Nonetheless, they will come back home as heroes, having delivered a silver medal, equaling their greatest achievement in the games (won a silver in Atlanta ’96).
- The United States were always considered the team to beat, and lived up to their billing in the tournament’s final game. Even if a rare day arrives in which none of their offensive juggernauts play at their best, the Americans can win with their defense. They are longer and more athletic than any other nation, and make it supremely difficult to score on them when locked in. Their current iteration may not match the Dream Team, but they are nonetheless deserving Olympic gold medalists.
