Team USA, one of the strongest men’s basketball teams in recent years, will face Team France on Saturday in Paris in hopes of winning a fifth consecutive Olympic gold medal.

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After four consecutive dominant, double-digit wins in the competition, Team USA nearly lost to Team Serbia in a closely contested semifinal matchup on Thursday. The Americans found themselves trailing by a brutal 17-point margin at one point, and the Serbians’ advantage grew to as much as 13 points early in the fourth quarter.

A scoring clinic from the U.S., led by veterans LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Joel Embiid over the age of 30, helped the Americans build a 32-15 lead in the quarter. The U.S. pulled out the win, but just barely — 95-91.

Team Serbia will face Team Germany in the bronze medal match ahead of the main event.

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Unique to Serbia, Team France doesn’t have the best player in the world on its roster (Denver Nuggets MVP center Nikola Jokic). But the French do have a variety of NBA players, led by All-Defensive First Team center Victor Wembanyama. Rudy Gobert, the four-time Defensive Player of the Year from the Minnesota Timberwolves and a frequent matchup problem in the NBA playoffs, has also had a problematic fit in this year’s Olympics. Gobert now serves a ceremonial role off the bench as the backup to the young San Antonio Spurs big man.

Read more: Draymond Green Sends Rudy Gobert to the Bench for the Olympics

Here are the top three X-factors worth watching in Saturday’s gold medal game:

War of the Elders

All-Star Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid, the 2023 league MVP, has been a starter for most of Team USA’s games. He’s been relatively disappointing until the semifinals against Serbia. The 7-foot-7 star made 8 of 11 shots from the field (2 of 3 from the three-point line) and 1 of 1 from the free throw line, posting 19 points, four rebounds, two assists and one block.

In his first five games for Team USA, he averaged 13 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.3 blocks on .583/.545/.571 shooting percentages.

Despite the respectable stats, Embiid is still a major defensive risk. He started the tournament out of form and now seems to be at least more invested offensively. But both All-Defensive backups, All-NBA Los Angeles Lakers center Anthony Davis and Miami Heat All-Star center Bam Adebayo, could be much better at limiting the damage Wembanyama can do inside the paint.

Embiid couldn’t handle Jokic defensively, and that nearly cost the U.S. its chance at a gold medal. Kerr needs to have a quicker hook for Embiid on Saturday.

Stephen Curry

All-NBA Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry, like Embiid, is a weak defender who had a lackluster start in the Olympics before the semifinals. Curry exploded on Thursday, scoring 36 points on 12-of-19 shooting from the field (9-of-14 from the triangle) and 3-of-3 from the free throw line, while also grabbing eight rebounds, dishing out two assists and stealing a steal.

Former New York Knicks lottery pick Frank Ntilikina is a solid defender, but he’s so negative offensively that he’s out of the NBA. Curry should be able to shake him up enough to get some threes, and even if Curry loses Ntilikina on the other end occasionally, Ntilikina isn’t much of a scoring threat.

Forwards

All-Star Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant is set to win the starting wing spot ahead of Boston Celtics All-Defensive forward Jrue Holiday. He will likely rotate between both forward positions with All-NBA Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James, but Durant has a slight edge in foot speed.

For France, LA Clippers forward Nicolas Batum and Real Madrid forward Guerschon Yabusele are the club’s two starting forwards. Yabusele has shouldered the greater scoring load and will therefore be Durant’s primary defensive burden when they are on the floor together. He had an impressive run in the tournament, scoring 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field and 3-of-3 from the free throw line, and he grabbed seven rebounds in the surprise semifinal win over Team Germany. Durant should be ready to shut down Yabusele if he sneaks to the 3-point line.

According to BetMGM Sportsbook, Team USA is a -16.5 point favorite to win. The over/under for the match’s total points is set at 178.5 points.