With the stakes the highest and the situation the shakiest, Joel Embiid played his best game yet for Team USA.
Embiid posted 19 points on 8-for-11 shooting, four rebounds and two assists Thursday, helping the Americans come back for a 95-91 semifinal victory over Serbia at the Paris Olympics.
Stephen Curry was outstanding in a 36-point day and LeBron James tallied a triple-double with 16 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists.
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Team USA will face France in the gold medal game Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET after the host nation's win against Germany.
The entertainment value of USA vs. Serbia will be hard to top. Both teams brought it in the shotmaking department right away. Serbia opened 5 for 5 from the field and Curry matched that scorching start by recording 14 points in under four minutes, including a three-pointer in front of his bench that he didn’t bother to watch drop through the hoop.
Neither Embiid nor Team USA as a unit were near their best in the early going. Embiid missed a mid-range jumper and a leaner inside. He briefly had a steal near the sideline, but Embiid then turned the ball back over to Serbia in his efforts to keep it inbounds.
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The Americans trailed 23-18 when Embiid subbed out and their deficit kept growing. Everything seemed to be breaking Serbia’s way when Vasilije Micic banked in a three early in the second quarter. Serbia’s advantage got as large as 17 points in the first half.
Embiid helped Team USA wrestle back a bit of momentum. He hit an elbow jumper to begin his second stint and also drilled a corner three during a 7-0 run.
Though Serbia continued to make some difficult shots, Embiid defended well in the second quarter, too. He held his own several times on the perimeter and battled in the paint. Offensively, he delivered a highlight when he pump faked Nikola Jokic and drove baseline for a big-time dunk.
To start the third quarter, Jokic missed a three and Embiid made one, cutting Team USA’s deficit to single digits.
Embiid added another dunk in the third period after driving past Jokic. Jrue Holiday canned a corner three to draw the Americans within six points and Embiid then drew an offensive foul on Jokic in the post, a call he celebrated with gusto.
However, the USA bench was badly outplayed late in the third quarter. Marko Guduric’s four-point play extended Serbia’s lead to 15 points.
The Americans stopped their downward spiral with a strong stretch early in the fourth quarter. Embiid checked back in and Devin Booker immediately sunk a three off a sideline out-of-bounds play to trim Serbia's lead to 78-73.
The Serbians hurt the Americans a few times on the offensive glass with their double-big lineup of Jokic and Nikola Milutinov, but Embiid played a tremendous few minutes to keep Team USA's comeback rolling. He made a jumper over Jokic and an and-one layup during a 7-0 American spurt that tied the game at 84-all.
Team USA soon went ahead when Curry worked around a thudding Embiid down screen and knocked down one of his nine long-range jumpers.
Coast-to-coast layups from Curry and James enabled Team USA to edge out Serbia in the closing minutes of a true thriller.
The world will be watching (and the home fans vehemently against the Americans) on Saturday.