PARIS — France was the official opponent; Team USA, its own worst enemy. One of the two? Team USA could overcome. But both? That’s a tough road. And against an eager, home-crowd bevvied team like France, it sure looked like Team USA picked a bad game to have a bad game.
And then, it somehow got worse. After, arguably, the worst half of basketball Team USA has played on a world stage in the win streak, France jumped out to an 8-0 to start the second half and any assurance of “It’s Team USA, of course, they’ll be fine, of course, they’re going to come out different in the second half,” dissipated as fast as any of the leads the Americans tried to hold onto through the game.
And when Team USA huddled together after it was confirmed that Gabby Williams’ shot was a 2-pointer and not a 3-pointer — putting the final score at Team USA 67-France 66 — it felt more honest to say that Team USA fought its opponent and itself to the gold, than it had won it. They jumped and hugged, celebratory and relieved. But make no mistake, this was not the Team USA that had trotted out to the previous seven Olympic gold medals, winning by margins of 10, 20 or 30-plus.
This was not the kind of game that Team USA had built its reputation on and not the kind of play that looked worthy of an eighth-consecutive gold medal, let alone one. Team USA turned the ball over 19 times. They missed 15 two-foot shots (some contested, others not). They couldn’t hit a shot from beyond the 3-point arc to stop the bleeding, and they were somehow worse right next to the basket. They made uncharacteristic mistakes because of the French defensive pressure or, simply, the pressure. And in the end, it nearly cost them.
The streak lives on — eight straight gold medals. Team USA has now won 61 straight (or won 60 and avoided one final loss).
This story will be updated.
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(Photo: Aris MESSINIS / AFP / Getty Images)
