Olympics roundup: Damian Lillard, Team USA beat Rudy Gobert and France to win gold

United States’ Damian Lillard (6) drives to the basket over France’s Rudy Gobert during the men’s basketball gold medal game at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 7, 2021, in Saitama, Japan. | Charlie Neibergall, Associated Press

Damian Lillard, playing in his first Olympics, scored 11 points as the United States beat Rudy Gobert and France 87-82 to take home the gold medal. Kevin Durant led all scorers with 29 points.

Damian Lillard is an Olympic gold medalist.

The former Weber State guard, playing in his first Olympics, scored 11 points as the United States beat France 87-82 to take home gold on Friday night. Lillard added three assists, a rebound and a steal and shot 4-of-11 from the field.

Kevin Durant was phenomenal for the USA, leading all scorers with 29 points and contributing six rebounds, three assists and a block. Durant has come up big for the United States in gold medal games — he scored 30 points as the USA beat Spain in 2012 and had 30 points in the United States’ win over Serbia in 2016. USA basketball has won four straight gold medals at the Olympics.

Jayson Tatum scored 19 points and Jrue Holiday had 11 to round out the four Americans who scored in double figures.

Eric Gay, Associated Press

United States’ players celebrate after their win in the men’s basketball gold medal game against France at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 7, 2021, in Saitama, Japan.

Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert scored 16 points for France, tying Evan Fournier for the team-high, and grabbed eight rebounds. Gobert was a perfect 5-for-5 from the field, although he was 6-of-13 from the free-throw line.

Much of France’s offense, especially in the first half, involved getting Gobert the ball in the pick-and-roll against the United States, who were switching, allowing Gobert to exploit the mismatch.

In the knockout round, the United States has often struggled in the first half before turning it on in the second half, but Durant picked up the slack on Friday, scoring 21 points in the first two quarters. Still, France hung with the USA and only trailed by five at halftime.

It became clear throughout the Olympics that the United States was not going to blow teams off the court as it did in previous Olympics. Yes, the USA had plenty of star power — much more than any other team — with Durant, Lillard, Tatum, Devin Booker and recent NBA champion Khris Middleton.

But this team wasn’t a “Dream Team”, missing stars like LeBron James, Steph Curry, Chris Paul, James Harden, Kawhi Leonard and Anthony Davis, among others. Add in that the rest of the world has vastly improved in exporting players to the NBA, and a gold medal was not a sure thing.

France, which had already beaten the USA in the group stage, boasted five players who were on NBA rosters last season — Gobert, Fournier, Nicolas Batum, Frank Ntilikina and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot.

The USA entered the fourth quarter up eight, but France clawed its way back into the game as the United States went cold in the middle of the quarter, not scoring a point for nearly three-and-a-half minutes. Ntilikina made a 3-pointer with just under six minutes remaining to cut the Americans’ lead to three points.

Luca Bruno, Associated Press

France’s Rudy Gobert (27), center, reacts after their loss in the men’s basketball gold medal game against the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 7, 2021, in Saitama, Japan.

The USA responded with a 6-0 run, with two baskets assisted by Lillard, to extend the lead to 79-70 with 4:40 left.

After two free throws from Booker, the United States was seemingly set to cruise to the podium with an 84-75 lead with just under two minutes left, but France again showed its fight. Fournier hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to six, then Holiday split a pair of free throws. Nando de Colo hit a shot with 17 seconds left, then Batum stole the ball, setting up two free throws from de Colo.

The United States was clinging to a 3-point lead with 10 seconds left.

The USA turned to Durant once again, and he made two free throws to deliver the gold medal.

Durant now holds the title of the greatest United States Olympic basketball player ever, as he has led the USA to three consecutive Olympic gold medals and is the United States’ all-time Olympic leading scorer.

Rudy Gobert was emotional after France's loss to Team USA. pic.twitter.com/gZG1hypOnZ

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) August 7, 2021

As the USA celebrated at midcourt, Gobert was dejected postgame, having led his team so close to gold. Gobert was instrumental in guiding France to silver. He averaged 12.2 points and 9.3 rebounds across six Olympic games.

Up Next

8/7, 4 a.m. MDT: Eddy Alvarez (Team USA, former Salt Lake Community College baseball player), vs. Japan, gold medal game

8/7, 5 a.m. MDT: Joe Ingles (Team Australia, Utah Jazz player), men’s basketball vs. Slovenia, bronze medal game

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