Coming off a thrilling come-from-behind victory over Serbia in the semifinals, Gonzaga men’s basketball coach Mark Few and Team USA will face France in men’s basketball gold-medal action at the Paris Games on Saturday.

The U.S. needed a 36-point game from Steph Curry and a triple-double from LeBron James to pull off a 17-point comeback against Nikola Jokic and the Serbians. The Serbians had a hot night shooting from three-point range until the Americans tightened up their defense in the final quarter, and they scored in double figures throughout the game. The U.S. trailed by 13 points entering the final period but outscored Serbia 32-15 in the final 10 minutes. The game turned upside down in the final few minutes, with Joel Embiid, James, Durant and Curry all scoring big in the final minutes, going on a 14-2 run. Former Gonzaga star Filip Petrusev had nine points, including a dunk late in the fourth quarter, and five rebounds, while Bogdan Bogdanovic led Serbia with 20 points.

Curry scored 17 of his team’s first 20 points and finished the game with two free throws to help the United States win the gold medal in a rematch of the Tokyo Games against France, which the Americans won 87-82 in the Olympic final.

After going head-to-head against Jokic, Few and the Team USA coaching staff face a brief turnaround as they prepare for an entirely different basketball sensation in Victor Wembanyama. The 7-foot-4-inch player leads France in points, rebounds and assists while giving up 2.0 shots per game.

The French returned to the gold medal game after a 73-69 victory over a red-hot Germany team that has won 12 consecutive international competitions since last year’s FIBA ​​World Cup. France outscored the Germans 38-25 in the second and third quarters before hitting crucial free throws in the final minutes to hold off a German comeback attempt led by Dennis Schroder with 18 points.

Backed by a raucous home crowd, Wembanyama and his team are 4-1 in Olympic competition – their only defeat being an 85-71 defeat to Germany last week – after losing four consecutive warm-up matches heading into group play. Head coach Vincent Collet has made some changes to the rotation, even opting to bring Rudy Gobert off the bench in the quarter-finals and semi-finals to try to field the most cohesive five at once.

The U.S. is aiming for its 17th men’s basketball gold medal since 1936. Durant leads all U.S. men’s basketball players with five gold medals after becoming the all-time leading scorer in the quarterfinals against Brazil.

France is seeking its first gold medal in men’s basketball. In addition to the Tokyo Games, the French won silver in the gold medal games in 2000 and 1948 after losing to the Americans.

HOW TO WATCH TEAM USA VS FRANCE

What: USA and France face off in Olympic men’s basketball gold medal match
When: Saturday, August 10, 3:30 PM ET/ 12:30 PM PT
Where: Bercy Arena | Paris, France
Live broadcast: Watch the 2024 Olympics live on Peacock
Betting odds SI Sports Betting: US -15.5 (-118); Q/F 176.5 (-118)

STAFF

Team USA:
* LeBron James
*Stephen Curry
* Kevin Durant
* Joel Embiid
* Devin Booker
*Jason Tatum
* Anthony Davis
* Tyrese Haliburton
* Anthony Edwards
* Jrue Holiday
* Bam Adebayo
* Derrick White

Team France:
* Frank Nitilikina
*Nicolas Tatum
*Andrew Albicy
* Guershon Yabusele
* Isaia Cordinier
* Evan Fournier
* Nando de Colo
* Mathias Lessort
* Rudy Gobert
* Victor Wemban
* Matthew Strazel
* Bilal Coulibaly