2016 Olympic Games: USA and Serbia to play final
And then there were two. The final of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro has been locked with the USA and Serbia to contest the gold medal game on Sunday. Of the nations, the USA, was hugely tipped to be in the final, but Serbia’s presence may be more of a surprise.
However, the Europeans were phenomenal in the semi-final, combining a kind draw with turning it on at the right time to sweep into the final game. Team USA had a tricky encounter against Spain to navigate, but the favorites pulled off a victory, but once again was far from convincing.
Spain vs. USA, 76-82
How Spain must be ruing its poor start to the 2016 Olympic Games. The Spaniards lost two games before going on a four game winning streak and impressing hugely. However, if the team had performed better at the opening of the competition, it would have avoided the USA in the final four. Spain had lost the last two Olympic finals to the US, and luck was not changing here.
In fairness, Team USA is not a vintage incarnation in 2016. Yes, the NBA giants of the roster are unbeaten and will probably win gold on Sunday, but performances have been lackluster. Spain exposed the US vulnerabilities and pushed the reigning champs close in the semifinal.
After the USA claimed the first frame 17-26, Spain showed it was not in the final four to be rolled over. The Europeans won the second 22-19 to make it 39-45 through the long break. The champions gathered the momentum in the third with an 18-21 frame that extended the lead to 57-66 through the long break. Spain rallied briefly in the fourth, but the US shut it down and edged to victory.
Klay Thompson topped the win with 22 points, while Kevin Durant added 14 points, and DeAndre Jordan 16 rebounds.
Pau Gasol paced Spain with a game high 23 points, while also adding 7 boards.
Australia vs. Serbia, 61-87
Serbia produced its best performance of the 2016 Olympic Games so far and waltzed into the final. The Serbs were perhaps underdogs against and Australian team that had only dropped a single contest, and that was to the United States. However, the Europeans had plenty in the tank and produced on the hardwood, sending the Boomers back Down Under.
All signs obviously point to Team USA in the gold medal game, but Serbia is not there to make up the numbers. It will be hugely important that the Serbia from this semifinal shows up and not the one that looked underwhelming at points of the group stage. The country is guaranteed its best Olympics performance since the old Yugoslavia claimed the silver medal in Atlanta 1996.
Serbia’s win in the final four was built on two things. The team balanced offence and defence very well in the first half, while Australia simply didn’t show up. Serbia raced into a 5-16 lead after the first quarter and then extended with a huge 9-19 second frame that made it 14-35 through halftime. The fact the Aussies scored 14 first half points is unforgiveable at this level and the players are likely to have nightmares about those opening frames. The Australians improved in the second half, but Serbia had the momentum and a 20 points cushion to ease through the game.
Milos Teodosic led the Serbian victory with took 22 points and laid 5 assists. Stefan Markovic added 14 points, while Milan Macvan added 12 points.
Brock Motum and Patrick Mills grabbed 13 points apiece in the losing effort.