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2024 Paris Olympics

Kevin Durant captures men’s Olympic-record 4th gold medal with Team USA win over France

© Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports

Kevin Durant is once again in the history books, becoming the first men’s Olympic basketball player to win four gold medals with Team USA’s 98-87 win over France to close out the 2024 Paris Olympics.

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Durant entered tonight’s game with a pretty good track record in gold medal games. He scored 30 points in a 107-100 win over Spain in the 2012 Londo Olympics, 30 points in a 96-66 win over Serbia in the 2016 Rio Olympics and 29 points in an 87-82 win over France in the 2021 at the Tokyo Olympics.

Tonight, Durant’s didn’t have another dominant performance like his previous three gold medal games, but still contributed 15 points on 5-of-12 shooting (3-for-9 for 3), four rebounds, four assists, a steal and a block in 31 minutes. This was Durant’s first start of the Paris Olympics after coach Steve Kerr liked him coming off the bench the first five games.

Stephen Curry, Devin Booker, LeBron James and Joel Embiid were the starters alonsgside Durant. Curry finished with a team-high 24 points to go along with five assists and two steals, cashing in four 3-pointers in the last three minutes.

Booker started the game off hot for the U.S. with 13 of his 15 points coming in the first half, as he also ended with six rebounds and three assists. James had another double-double of 14 points, 10 assists, six rebounds, two steals and a block. Anthony Davis was big off the bench with eight points and nine rebounds (six offensive).

This is how Durant’s performance played out:

Durant finishes strong to win gold again

Durant got an open look from 3 on the very first possession of the game, but missed it. He then found James for a slam in transition the next possession. After a monster block by James, Booker found Durant for an open 3 in transition to put the U.S. up 8-7 with 7:21 to go in the first quarter. Overall, Durant went 1-for-3 from the floor in the first quarter and also had two rebounds and an assist, as the U.S. led 20-15.

Durant missed his first two shots in the second quarter, both from 3, as France quickly retook the lead at 25-24. After his 1-for-5 start, Durant connected on a 3 off an assist by Curry to extend the U.S. lead to 40-33 with 2:32 remaining in the half. The next possession, he returned the favor to Curry, finding him for a corner 3. Then, James had a nice deflection on defense and Durant grabbed the ball found Booker down the court for an and-one layup in transition, giving the U.S. a double-digit 46-36 lead with 1:32 to go.

At halftime, the United States was up 49-41 and Durant had six points on 2-of-6 shooting (all shots from 3), three rebounds and two assists in 15 minutes.

Durant had the first bucket of the third quarter for the U.S. on a pull-up jumper after Team USA got an offensive rebound off a Booker miss on the opening possession. Durant’s next shot attempt came with 5:38 remaining in the period on another pull-up jumper, and he cashed it to put him in double figures and give the U.S. a 63-51 advantage. With 38 seconds left, Durant found Anthony Edwards on alley-oop dunk. Through three quarters, Durant had 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting, four assists, two rebounds and a steal in 24 minutes, as the United State was up 72-66 with one quarter to go.

Durant missed an open corner 3 to start the fourth, but then hit a contested deep 3 to beat the shot clock and extend the United States lead to 77-68 less than two minutes into the quarter. After France got the U.S. lead all the way down to three points with only three minutes remaining, Curry hit a 3 and then Durant made two free throws after being fouled on a defensive rebound, putting the U.S. ahead 87-79 with 2:22 remaining.

Then, Curry made three 3-pointers in a row

Stephen Curry hits 8 3-pointers, Team USA wins its 5th-straight gold medal with 98-87 victory over France

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Brendan Mau is a senior writer covering the Phoenix Suns and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @Brendan_Mau

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