It all comes down to this.
Olympic glory and the title of World Champion (sorry Noah Lyles) is on the line in a faceoff perfectly emblematic of the current basketball landscape.
France, led by the future face of the league Victor Wembanyama, attempts to dethrone kings and chisel some faces off basketball’s 21st century Mount Rushmore. It’s a high climb, but France has been a giant slayer so far at the Olympics behind its raucous home crowd.
Meanwhile, the U.S. searches for a fifth-straight Olympic gold, one that could be the icing on the cake for the storied careers of guys like LeBron James, Steph Curry and Kevin Durant.
Follow along here for live updates from the game and all the key moments from what could prove to be a legacy-affirming showdown.
LIVE SCORE: USA 20, FRANCE 15
First quarter
• 0:00 — End of first quarter: USA 20, France 15
• 0:28 — The Timberwolves teammates are going head-to-head. Anthony Edwards nails a sweet step-back three-pointer over Gobert for his second make from deep in the game.
• 2:35 — Rudy Gobert and Jayson Tatum check in early (for once) and exchange buckets as the Celtics star finishes a dunk then the Frenchman responds and slams it home off an easy entry pass. 14-13 USA.
• 6:14 — France is playing fearlessly. That’s two straight dunks from Guerschon Yabusele and Wemby as they attack the paint early and show Joel Embiid the mistake he made picking the U.S.
• 8:28 — Wemby has arrived. The phenom nails his first two shots of the game, first by responding to James with a big three-pointer, then finishes a sweet lay-up at the rim with some soft touch. France 7, USA 5.
• 9:22 — LeBron James gets the party started in the most unsurprising way possible by punching in a big two-handed slam in transition. 39 is the new 29.
PRE-GAME NOTES
• As reported by Shams Charania, Kevin Durant is set to make his first start for the U.S. at these Olympics, replacing plucky guard Jrue Holiday in the opening five. Steph Curry, Devin Booker, LeBron James and Joel Embiid will line up alongside the 14-time NBA All-Star.
• France will start Frank Ntilikina, Isaia Cordinier, Nicolas Batum, Guerschon Yabusele and Victor Wembanyama. Rudy Gobert starts on the bench once again.
• This will be a rematch of the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympics that saw the U.S. down France 87-82 in a tight game. However, the teams will look radically different as France was without phenom Victor Wembanyama and breakout guys Mathias Lessort and Isaia Cordinier. The U.S., which put together a star-studded cast for Paris, was without LeBron James, Steph Curry and Joel Embiid, among others.
