Durant, Lillard, USA Basketball Win Olympic Gold Medal, Gobert, France Settle For Silver
Aug 6, 2021, 10:24 PM | Updated: Aug 7, 2021, 5:00 am
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Kevin Durant, Damian Lillard, and USA Basketball won the 2020 Olympic gold medal in men’s basketball with a victory over Rudy Gobert and France.
Gobert and France settled for the silver medal with the loss.
Team USA played France in the Gold Medal Game of the Tokyo Olympics on Friday, August 6.
USA Basketball won, 87-82.
Mission accomplished!
Four consecutive π₯π₯π₯π₯ pic.twitter.com/9DwVl71GJ7
— USA Basketball (@usabasketball) August 7, 2021
Team USA controlled the majority of the contest and held multiple double-digit leads throughout the game.
After losing the first three quarters, France put up an impressive fight down the stretch and cut the USA’s lead to one possession with 10 seconds left. France suffered the five-point loss despite outscoring USA Basketball by three points over the final 10 minutes of action.
Durant scored a game-high 29 points. During the contest, Durant became the first player in United States history to score more than 100 points in three separate Olympic Games.
Lillard added 11 points, one rebound, three assists, and one steal. The former Weber State standout reportedly played through an injury through the Olympics.
βοΈβοΈβοΈ#KSLOlympics #TokyoOlympics https://t.co/3BNo3MppdW
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) August 7, 2021
Gobert led France with a team-high 16 points and eight rebounds. He is the first member of the Utah Jazz to earn an Olympic medal since Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer helped the USA win Gold in 2008.
Rudy fait du Rudy. @rudygobert27 π #TeamFranceBasket #FRAUSA #Tokyo2020 #Basketball pic.twitter.com/pqksRjtFXe
— Equipes de France de Basket (@FRABasketball) August 7, 2021
The result gave the United States its fourth consecutive Gold medal and 16th Olympic Gold all-time.
France earned its third Olympic medal all-time and first since 2000, all three medals have been Silver. Les Bleus won its first medal in 1948.
Gobert’s Jazz teammate, Joe Ingles, and Australia will play Slovenia for the Bronze on Saturday, August 7 at 5 a.m. (MDT). Click here to watch Ingles and the Boomers go for the bronze medal.