The United States won’t have to go through Luka Doncic and Slovenia after all. Instead, it will need to avenge its lone loss of the 2021 Olympics to take home a gold medal.
Friday night, Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Co. will meet France in the gold medal game. The French edged Slovenia, 90-89, Thursday morning in a classic semifinal showdown.
In a chaotic finish, Nicolas Batum’s last-second block on a Klemen Prepelic layup sent France past Slovenia. Nando de Colo led France with 25 points and Evan Fournier, who just inked a four-year, $78 million deal with the Knicks, had 23. Rudy Gobert finished with nine points, 16 rebounds and four blocked shots.
Doncic, the Mavericks’ star guard, shot just 5-of-18 from the field for 16 points, but did rack up 18 assists and 10 rebounds.
In the opener of the Summer Olympics, France got by the US, 83-76, behind Fournier’s 28 points.