Steph Curry saves America in gold medal game

Curry made eight three-pointers and scorched France late as Team USA won Olympic gold with a 98-87 victory

With a gold medal hanging in the balance and France closing Team USA’s lead to a single possession, Steve Kerr went with a tried and true coaching strategy: Give the ball to Steph.

Curry made four three-pointers in the last three minutes of the United States’ 98-87 victory over France, securing his first gold medal — and former Golden States Warriors teammate Kevin Durant’s fourth. He finished with a team-high 24 points, going 8-for-13 from three-point range, and delivered five assists and two steals.

Chef Curry had never competed in the Olympics before, but he finished them extremely strong. In the semifinal and final combined, Curry scored 60 points and made 17 three-pointers, bailing Team USA out against both Serbia and France.

Best of all, he did it with restrained confidence. Twice in the final two minutes, Curry sank a shot from behind the arc that gave Team USA a nine-point lead, or a “three-possession lead” if you’re a broadcaster. But he held back from his signature celebration until he hit a truly ridiculous shot with 35 seconds to go, defying a double team to give the Americans a truly insurmountable lead and ensure that it was indeed bedtime for the French team.

NBC’s Noah Eagle called the shot a “golden dagger.” In English, that’s the Night Night, while in Paris, that’s known as the “Nuit Nuit.” But it effectively ended a hard-fought Olympic final, which had a lot in common with any number of Steve Kerr-coached Warriors games.

First, the team committed a lot of turnovers, with Curry and LeBron James each giving the ball away five times. Team USA had 17 turnovers overall, and also failed to get to the line as much as France. But they went 8-for-8 from the charity stripe, while France was 10-for-17, typical for a Kerr team which has had three different free-throw percentage champions in the last seven years.

Kerr also stuck with an unproductive big man, Joel Embiid, who also got docked with a technical foul for beefing with Rudy Gobert - which is absolutely Warriors basketball.

James was named MVP of the Olympics tournament after his 14-point, 10-assist performance in the gold medal game, even if he needed Curry to close out France. Kevin Durant added 15 points, as did Devin Booker, while Anthony Davis had a huge defensive performance with nine rebounds and four blocks, playing over Embiid down the stretch.

While France had to settle for a silver medal for the second straight Olympics, 20-year-old Victor Wembanyama showed why the United States should be worried about keeping it’s five-Olympics gold medal streak going when the games head to Los Angeles in 2028. Wow, the Olympics are just like an All-Star NBA center, always forcing their way to L.A.

Wemby led all scorers with 26 points, going 11-for-19 and grabbing seven rebounds. France also leaned on fellow 2-year-old Bilal Coulibaly in the 4th quarter, and the Washington Wizards forward hit a jumper and blocked a Curry three-pointer in the final five minutes.

Perhaps more important than winning a gold medal was that Steve Kerr reassured an army of critics, which included Jayson Tatum’s mom, by finally giving Tatum some playing time. He responded by committing two fouls, scoring two points, and clanking his first jump shot off the rim. Why was everyone losing their minds over this guy again?

Steph Curry is a gold medalist and France has learned how fans of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics, and Memphis Grizzlies have felt watching Curry in the playoffs over the last decade. When Chef Curry is cooking, it’s going to be Night Night time before you can respond.