USA basketball takeaways from Serbia thriller: Stephen Curry finds touch, LeBron James defies Father Time once again

Stephen Noh

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USA basketball takeaways from Serbia thriller: Stephen Curry finds touch, LeBron James defies Father Time once again image

Team USA was expected to cruise past Serbia in the men's basketball Olympic semifinal game, entering as 15.5-point favorites. That didn't happen — the Americans trailed by as many as 17 points but ended up taking care of business thanks to a furious fourth-quarter run.

This looked like it would be a stunning upset until the very end. Serbia opened to a 31-23 lead after the first quarter, extending that margin to 54-43 by halftime. The United States got the lead down to six near the end of the third quarter before Serbia built it back up to 13 to start the fourth.

The USA came roaring back in that final frame, hitting a flurry of 3s and getting seven straight points from Joel Embiid midway through the quarter. LeBron James tied it 84-84 after a layup with 3:39 to go, and America never looked back. 

Here are three takeaways to explain how the USA pulled off the epic comeback. 

MORE: Full stats, box score from USA vs. Serbia semifinals

Stephen Curry's shot returns

Curry had been mired in a terrible slump throughout the Olympics, hitting just 25 percent of his 3s entering Thursday's game. He broke out of that in a big way in the first quarter, scoring 17 points with five made 3s.

Curry finished with a game-high 36 points, hitting 9-of-14 from deep and coming one more made 3 away from tying Carmelo Anthony's Olympic record. 

Curry looked like his vintage self during the game. There were the usual relocation 3s, deep bombs and dancing all over the floor. He set up teammates as well, crossing over guard Filip Petrusev badly on a crossover and dumping the ball off to Anthony Davis for free throws. 

The NBA's Clutch Player of the Year saved some of his best play for the end of the game, rattling in a 3 and going coast-to-coast for a layup with under three minutes remaining. He hit two free throws to ice the game and build the USA's lead up to four with only eight seconds remaining. 

MORE: Inside Stephen Curry's incredible performance in USA's comeback win

LeBron James continues to put on his Superman cape

LeBron did everything that he could to get Team USA back into the game, scoring 16 points to go along with 10 assists and 12 rebounds. There were some brilliant stretches of play where he continued to look like the best player on the planet. 

With Serbia pulling away in the second quarter, LeBron took it upon himself to hit a pull-up 3 out of a timeout. He got a strip on the other end, leading to an emphatic Joel Embiid dunk. He continually backed down smaller Serbia players. In one such example, he got an and-one out of the post against Bogdan Bogdanovic at the end of the half, emphatically giving the too-small gesture afterward. 

LeBron was also his usual brilliant self as a passer. He hit USA players for 3s and had a beautiful pass to Devin Booker for a wide-open layup through the teeth of the defense in the second quarter. 

LeBron was a force in transition, hitting two downhill layups down the stretch. He imposed his will at the end of the game.

Even at the age of 39, LeBron showed that he's still unstoppable with a head of steam. 

MORE: Why Jayson Tatum didn't play against Serbia in Olympic semifinals

Team USA overcomes turnovers, sloppy play, hot Serbian shooting

Serbia built up its lead by hitting seemingly every 3-pointer that it took. It cooled down in the second half, ending the game hitting 15-of-39 3s for 38 percent. 

Many of those early 3s came off bad gambles for steals in the first half, leading to wide-open looks. Serbia's ball movement was excellent, recording 22 assists on 33 made baskets. Bogdanovic led Serbia with 20 points, jawing at Carmelo Anthony on the sidelines after making tough shots. Nikola Jokic was his usual reliable self, scoring 17 points and recording 11 assists.

The defensive pressure of the USA was too much towards the end of the game when Serbia couldn't generate a decent shot. 

The USA also had problems controlling the glass, allowing nine offensive rebounds. One particularly backbreaking series came when Embiid failed to box out, leading to three chances and a Jokic score. Those are areas that Steve Kerr's team will have to clean up in the gold medal game against France, which has the size to make that an even more difficult task. 

Team USA came through with its own hot shooting throughout this game to mask those mistakes, going 16-of-32 from deep. Most of those came from Curry, but Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, LeBron, Embiid and Jrue Holiday contributed as well. 

Stephen Noh

Stephen Noh Photo

Stephen Noh started writing about the NBA as one of the first members of The Athletic in 2016. He covered the Chicago Bulls, both through big outlets and independent newsletters, for six years before joining The Sporting News in 2022. Stephen is also an avid poker player and wrote for PokerNews while covering the World Series of Poker from 2006-2008.