By Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber
PARIS (Reuters) – Shooting guard Stephen Curry delivered what a teammate described as a “godlike performance” to keep the U.S. quest for an Olympic gold medal in men’s basketball alive on Thursday in an incredible comeback win against Serbia.
Curry, the team captain, poured in a staggering 36 points that helped the United States erase a 17-point deficit, sinking three-pointer after three-pointer to keep his side afloat in the semi-final.
The United States were behind for most of the game and held the lead for less than three and a half minutes in the crucial fourth quarter to secure a spot in the gold medal game on Saturday against hosts France.
“That was a godlike performance,” Kevin Durant, a guard for the NBA’s Phoenix Suns who had nine points against Serbia, said of Curry.
“Steph, he felt like he was struggling throughout the whole tournament and tonight, he showed up. God was with him tonight. He was with us tonight and through Steph.”
While Durant described it as one of the best games he had ever seen Curry play, the four-times NBA champion with the Golden State Warriors shrugged off his personal contribution to the victory, saying his performance was merely what the game called for.
“I haven’t had many opportunities and haven’t shot the ball well the whole tournament,” said the 36-year-old. “But it doesn’t waver your confidence to meet the moment…
“You live for those moments and doesn’t matter if you shoot three times or however many I shot tonight.”
Curry, who sank 9 of 14 three-point shots on Thursday, said the United States would need to dominate early in the final against France for a chance at gold.
“I know they’re going to feed off their home energy,” Curry said of France, who beat Germany 73-69 earlier on Thursday to reach the final.
“We have to get off to a better start than we did tonight.”
(Reporting by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber, Vincent Daheron and Steve Keating; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
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