THE United States won their fifth straight Olympic men’s basketball crown on Sunday morning AEST, holding off a battling France 98-87 to take their tally of Olympic golds to 17.
In a rematch of the Tokyo Olympics final three years ago, LeBron James and the US team stacked with NBA stars once again proved too much for France’s sensational NBA Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama and his teammates.
France sliced a 14-point deficit to three with 3min 04sec to play, but Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry drilled a three-pointer and Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant nailed two free throws as the United States relentlessly powered to the finish.
Curry finished with eight three-pointers — including one over a double team with 35 seconds left on the clock — and led the US scoring with 24 points.
Durant and Devin Booker added 15 apiece and James scored 14 with six rebounds, 10 assists a steal and a block.
For Durant it was a record fourth Olympic gold.
James earned his third and Curry, a four-time NBA champion, claimed his first in his first Olympic appearance.
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