Filip Petrusev was born on 15 April 2000. At that time, in Ohio, LeBron James was already 2.01 metres high and would be soon featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated, the first high school basketballer to do so.
Yet here they are today, at Bercy Arena, one as a 39-year-old, all-time scorer of the NBA, two Olympic gold medals, respected and admired by the sports world; and the other, who plays at Panathinaikos after a forgettable NBA experience, thinking that trash-talking and winding up LeBron could be a good idea for his team’s strategy.
As Serbia took the 17-point lead (45-22), Petrusev grinned directly at LeBron’s sons, igniting his immediate reaction. And LeBron whose contribution to the game had been limited until then, switched to angry-LeBron mode, becoming the team’s soul (16 points, 10 assists, 12 rebounds) in a spectacular comeback and an Olympic semi-final to be remembered.
It was 95-91, a miraculous effort after the Dream Team had lost the first three quarters (23-31, 20-23, 20-22) and Serbia managed to be 17 points ahead with a brilliant zonal marking, that they have never performed against the USA before. But FIBA-style marking was mixed with too much talking.
RECORD CURRY
And the USA had Stephen Curry, who was not interested in engaging in any arguments, and even took the shots from the line smiling. His 36 points were the highest individual score in an Olympic semi-final. Although with Curry alone the comeback wouldn’t have been possible.
ROCK-SOLID EMBIID
Not without Joel Embiid, who had to face a constant booing from the French fans since minute 1, and yet emerged as the winner in the one-to-one against Jokic.
Not without Kevin Durant, whose contribution in the last quarter helped to sink Serbia’s hopes.
KING JAMES
Not, clearly not, without LeBron James, who at 39 has signed the fourth triple-double in the history of Olympics: one belonged to him, one to Alexander Belov in 1976 and one to Luka Doncic in 2021.
Lacking the in-depth of the USA, Serbia relied too much on their stars. Jokic played 37 minutes. In the last quarter, when he was most needed, his batteries were dried up.
Serbian players ended up insulting the referees. But a technical or a walking call didn’t change the course of the game. It was LeBron – correction, angry-Lebron – who did it. And for that, Serbians need to point the finger to themselves. It was the second time in Olympic history that a team that had lost the first three quarters, ends up winning. The previous was Lithuania against Croatia in Beijing.
The USA will now go for the gold against hosts France, repeating the Olympic final of Tokyo three years ago. Serbia will battle for the bronze against Germany.
Credit: AIPS Media
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