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Durant, Team USA beat France, to stay kings of Olympic basketball

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Agence France-Presse

<p>NBA All-Star Kevin Durant poured in a game-high 29 points to lead the United States past France 87-82 to win their fourth straight Olympic men&#x27;s basketball gold medal Saturday. </p><p>The Americans started slow but earned a 22-18 lead after the first quarter and were 44-39 ahead at halfway, then survived some nervous late moments to prove the doubters wrong.</p><p>Gregg Popovich&#x27;s men headed to Tokyo after defeats to Nigeria and Australia in lead-up exhibition matches, sparking questions around their global dominance.</p><p>They then crashed to seventh-ranked France in their opening group game, their first defeat at an Olympics since the 2004 in Athens. </p><p>But spearheaded by Durant, they steadied the ship and began gelling, with a French team led by NBA stars Rudy Gobert, Evan Fournier and Nicolas Batum unable to repeat the feat in the final. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/08/03/21/us-outlast-spain-to-make-olympic-basketball-semis">US outlast Spain to make Olympic basketball semis</a></li></ul><p>The Brooklyn Nets&#x27; Durant was once again the US backbone as he joined Carmelo Anthony as a three-time title-winner, after being part of the triumphant teams in 2012 and 2016.</p><p>He had already reinforced his stature by surpassing his fellow great during group play to become their all-time leading Olympic points-scorer.</p><p>Durant scored 30 points in each of his last two gold medal games, and while he didn&#x27;t quite match that on Saturday, he again proved how crucial he is in pacing their offense.</p><p>He ended with three assists and six rebounds while Boston Celtic guard Jayson Tatum had 19 points and seven rebounds.</p><p>Utah Jazz centre Gobert and the Celtics&#x27; Fournier both sank 16 points to lead the way for France.</p><p>It was the eighth meeting between the two teams at an Olympics and their third final after London in 1948 and at Sydney 2000, with the US winning on both occasions.</p><p>In fact, France&#x27;s win in the group stage was their only Olympic victory against Team USA. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/08/03/21/slovenia-crush-germany-to-reach-olympic-basketball-semis">Slovenia crush Germany to reach Olympic basketball semis</a></li></ul><p>France led 10-4 with five minutes left of the first quarter with the Americans shooting just 2-of-11 from the floor, including 0-of-8 from outside the arc, before they finally found some rhythm and clicked into gear.</p><p>Khris Middleton drained a crucial three-pointer to draw them level and three successful free throws from Durant gave them the lead for the first time as they ended the quarter with a 22-18 advantage.</p><p>Durant contributed 21 points in the first half which ended with the US 44-39 ahead, but France did well to rally after falling 13 points adrift at one stage with Gobert instrumental with his 13 points.</p><p>They closed to within two points early in the third quarter but whenever they tried to make something happen offensively, Durant or Jrue Holiday hit back straight away. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/07/25/21/usa-shocked-by-france-in-mens-olympic-basketball">USA shocked by France in men&#x27;s Olympic basketball</a></li></ul><p>The US went into the final stretch 71-63 in front and hung on as France threw everything they had at them.</p><div><em>For breaking news and latest developments on the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, visit <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/tokyo-olympics">https://news.abs-cbn.com/tokyo-olympics</a> </em></div><div><strong>FROM THE ARCHIVES:</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1741477" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

Durant scored 29 points, as the United States beat France 87-82 in the men's Olympic basketball final on Saturday to claim the gold medal.