by TIM REYNOLDS

PARIS (AP) — It was a match the French wanted. It was a match the Americans probably expected. It was a match the world would definitely watch.

USA vs France. In Paris. For basketball gold.

“It’s unbelievable,” U.S. forward Kevin Durant said of the story, “so good that only the bravest scriptwriters would dare to create such a final scene.” Saturday night’s showdown at the Paris Olympics is a rematch of the gold-medal match at the Tokyo Games three years ago.

The United States is aiming for its fifth consecutive gold medal and 17th overall, while the French are aiming for their first gold medal since finishing with silver at the 1948, 2000 and 2020 Olympics, losing to the Americans in the finals in each of those tournaments.

“I mean, that’s what everybody wants, right?” USA guard Devin Booker said. “It’s going to be fun.”

American guard Stephen Curry added: “I know it’s going to be a struggle. When you’re trying to win a gold medal, that’s what it takes.”

Both teams ran an emotional gamut to reach the final. France beat World Cup champions Germany 73-69 in a semifinal and then joined the on-field celebrations as fans erupted and 7ft 4in star Victor Wembanyama was nearly in tears. The USA trailed Serbia by 17 points in the second quarter, fell behind by 15 in the final seconds of the third, and then went on a 34-15 run in the final 10:08 to win 95-91.

In Olympic history, every semifinal in men’s basketball has been decided by four points or less.

“For us, the whole squad, the players, it’s a dream to be able to play in the final in Paris,” said France coach Vincent Collet. “That’s what we said before (the semi-finals). I asked the players, ‘Are you going to let the German team steal the finals from you?’ They said, ‘No, never, never, we’ll die on the pitch, never.'”

Looking back at the semi-finals

Curry became the second-highest scorer in U.S. men’s Olympic history with 36 points in the U.S. semifinal win. Joel Embiid scored 19 points, drawing more boos than the French. LeBron James notched his second career Olympic triple-double (everyone else in men’s Olympic basketball history has two triple-doubles combined), and Durant hit a stunning shot with 34 seconds left to hold off Serbia.

For the Americans, the stars came out. For the French, perhaps lesser-known players — at least to NBA fans — performed the most. Guerschon Yabusele scored 17 points and Isaia Cordinier added 16 for France, while big names like Wembanyama, Rudy Gobert, Evan Fournier and Nicolas Batum scored 9 of 32 combined.

It didn’t matter. France still had enough.

“The desire to improve, the desire to sacrifice for your team, the desire to make the next pass, the desire to make the next play for your teammate, those were always there but we needed time,” Wembanyama said, describing how the Frenchman had improved throughout the tournament. “The intention was always good.”

And now the French will face the greatest powerhouse in the history of the sport, on their home turf.

French-American history

In the first eight meetings between the United States and France in men’s major international tournaments (the Olympics or the world championships, now known as the World Cup), the Americans were 8–0, with all victories coming by at least 10 points and an average margin of 25.9 points.

In the four games since then — the U.S. three-point win at the 2016 Olympics, the 10-point win over France at the 2019 World Cup that denied the Americans a medal and sent them to seventh place, then the two meetings they split at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago — the teams are 2-2.

Total scores of these matches: France 351, USA 342.