The Americans, who lost to the French team in the Olympic opener, have reached Friday night’s men’s final with many complications and far less than their ‘A team’
Despite the lack of historical precedent, the French won with their defense Thursday. They led Slovenia by one point on the final possession when Nicolas Batum, having signed a two-year extension with the Clippers on Monday, found himself alongside Klemen Prepelic. He gave up a step and then swiped aside Prepelic’s driving layup, and France survived 90-89 to set up a gold-medal game with the U.S. on Friday night. For the first time in an Olympic final, the Americans will not be the unanimously presumed favorite, despite the way they bulldozed previously unbeaten Australia in their Thursday semifinal. They won the third quarter 32-10, and then the game 97-78, and Kevin Durant and Devin Booker made every important shot they saw. Still, the French led off this tournament by beating the U.S. – snapping their 25-game Olympic winning streak – and has the size the Americans lack. Rudy Gobert has been far more influential in Tokyo than he was in Utah’s Western Conference semifinal loss to the Clippers. He and Batum had four blocks each against Slovenia, and the French can turn to 7-foot Vincent Poirier and 7-2 Moustapha Fall if needed. In the win over the U.S., Poirier and Fall scored 14 with eight rebounds in 22 minutes. The French also used their bigs to frustrate Luka Doncic in the semis, although Doncic became the third Olympian – joining LeBron James, Alexander Belov – to get a triple-double. In the final minute, Doncic was trapped quickly and had to surrender the ball, after he had missed 13 of 18 shots.
