Unreal! Absolutely unreal stuff unfolding in front of our eyes as Team USA is getting battered by Serbia. With a massive deficit and a major prize on the line, things were bound to get heated, and so it did. Following a fast start from Steph Curry with his barrage of 3s, the Serbs took the game by the scruff of its neck and imposed themselves on Team USA. LeBron James was visibly frustrated with Serbia’s physical approach. But things soon turned into ‘mental warfare’ after a celebration stirred the atmosphere.

This game felt different from the get-go. Both teams came out with a flurry of 3s. While Serbia converted most of their efforts, apart from Steph, no one was really having a smooth game in that regard. Kevin Durant was far from his usual brilliance. The physical Serbs put them off their game as Team USA looked shaken after experiencing a completely foreign concept; trailing, that too by a double-digit margin. That was enough to push the switches on the court, and LeBron was the first one to kick-start the domino effect.

After Bogdan Bogdanović sunk his 3 with 3:37 minutes left on the clock in the 2nd quarter, the Serbian celebrated as he went back to the bench. That did not sit well with Bron, who got involved in a heated altercation with Bogdanovic. James was seemingly seen saying “not nice” while pointing toward the man in question. A whole host of players and officials intervened before things went out of hand. And it was a smooth sailing journey after that…we’re joking. You don’t mess with the King!

Retribution came from Team USA swiftly. After scoring over Bogdanovic with 7 seconds left on the clock, LeBron James hit the “too small” celebration followed by a firm high-five with Kevin Durant. But things were far from over. With two whole quarters left to play, Team USA had to dig deep in their arsenal, and that’s exactly what they did.

LeBron James and Team USA turn ‘team cohesion’ criticism tables with their game of the tournament

Pressure must be applied to get diamonds. This summed up Team USA today as the star-spangled men stared death in the eyes and survived, survived to fight another day, that too, for the gold medal. After going down by 11 points in the first half, Team USA turned things up a notch. But the gap instead became 13, going into the final quarter. To save the day, Steph Curry stepped up.

The same man who was criticized for the whole tournament for his performances saved the day for Team USA. Before this game, the Splash Brother only had 29 points in 4 games and in this one, he scored 36! Despite being annoyed after not shooting enough, he believed that the floodgates would open, and it did. He went 9/14 from deep and 12/19 from the field en route to a historic performance.

LeBron James also made history by being the first player ever in the Olympics to get two triple-doubles to his name. His previous one came all the way back in 2012, and 12 years on, he is still dominating the court! LeBron recorded a 16-12-10 stat line in the win and his final-minute coast-to-coast basket made sure there was no way back for Serbia with only 14 seconds remaining.

Joel Embiid had a massive game after facing the hailstorm of global criticism for on-court and off-court issues. The former MVP scored 19 points on the night, none more memorable than the fadeaway jumper in the final quarter.

With this win, Team USA set a date with destiny, on August 11. But this time they’ll be up against 6 men of France. No, we’re not referring to the much-talked-about referring biases. We mean 5 on the court + one being the Parisian crowd supporting the home side!

Before leaving, do watch the Dual Threat Show hosted by BG12 where Bulldogs’ Asia Avinger details her experience with Kobe Bryant, her WNBA ROTY picks, and more in the video below.