Devin Booker's hot first half leads Team USA to another gold medal in win over France
Thanks to a terrific first-half performance from Devin Booker, Team USA didn’t need a last-ditch comeback effort to win this time around.
On Saturday in Paris, the United States took down France 98-87 in the Men’s Basketball gold medal game at the Olympics. It marks the second Olympics in a row that the US has beaten France in the championship.
Thanks to a team-leading 13 first-half points from Booker, the Americans controlled the French from the second quarter on, winning the country its fifth consecutive gold and 17th overall. Booker finished with 15 points, six rebounds, and three assists in 27 minutes as Team USA led throughout the entirety of the second half.
Booker wasn’t the only former Kentucky Wildcat to make an impact though. Anthony Davis finished with eight points, nine rebounds, four blocks, and two steals in 20 minutes while Bam Adebayo chipped in two points and one rebound in nine minutes. Four three-pointers from Steph Curry in the final three minutes sealed Team USA’s win for good.
Although Booker didn’t make any headlines for his on-court play in this event, his impact on this team throughout the entire Olympics shouldn’t go unnoticed. Through six games he averaged 11.7 points, 3.3 assists, and 2.7 rebounds in 22 minutes per outing. The 6-foot-6 guard shot 56.8 percent from the floor, 56.5 percent from deep, and 77.8 percent from the free throw line. His overall plus/minus of +78 was fourth-highest on the team.
Davis finished fifth on the team in minutes played with averages of 8.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.5 blocks, and 1.2 steals per game on 62.5 percent overall shooting. Adebayo posted per-game averages of six points and 3.7 rebounds. But in the end, the stats don’t matter — all three Wildcats will head home with gold medals.
For France, Victor Wembanyama led the way with 26 points and seven rebounds. Curry led Team USA with 24 points while James added 14 points, 10 assists, and six rebounds. Kevin Durant — now a four-time gold medalist for the Americans — added 15 points, four rebounds, and four rebounds.
This gold medal victory comes one game after arguably the most impressive comeback win in Team USA history. The Americans trailed by as many as 17 points against Serbia and were down by double digits entering the fourth quarter in the semifinals earlier this week. But a legendary performance from Curry, LeBron James, and Joel Embiid in the closing minutes fueled Team USA to the final round.
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