U.S. survives Serbia with late rally to make gold medal game #Olympics #Paris2024 #ParisOlympics

Ever since Serbia was able to squeeze out an Olympic bid at the World Cup last summer with all-world native son Nikola Jokic resting, the leadership of USA Basketball has been worried about a game like Thursday night's 95-91 Olympic semifinal victory.

No team, no player incited more concern than the Serbians and Jokic in the medal round.

It was the basis for securing the commitment from Joel Embiid to play for the Americans. And to recruit the greatest collection of talent possible, calling on LeBron James and Steph Curry and Kevin Durant to come and secure another gold.And it kept Steve Kerr and his coaching staff up this week, regardless of the previous blowout wins in these Olympics. It was a nightmare that almost came to life. Team USA was thrashing in the deep end, falling into all the classic traps that lead to historic upsets.