France advances to play USA for men's basketball gold

PARIS — The French men’s Olympic basketball players didn’t want to leave the court. French fans didn’t want to leave Bercy Arena.

There was too much joy. They wanted the celebration to continue. They wanted to soak in France’s 73-69 victory over Germany in the semifinals and spot in the finals at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

"Of course, some part of a dream come true,” France’s Victor Wembanyama said. “Big part of a goal we set ourselves months back. It’s a chance to write history even more. Definitely a once-in-a-lifetime goal. Maybe nobody can reproduce that, so we have got to take our chance.”

Significant pressure was on France to medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

That pressure subsided with France’s victory, guaranteeing France will medal. Question is, will it be gold or silver? France will play the USA, a 95-91 winner over Serbia, in the gold-medal game Saturday.

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France held off a late Germany rally, and Wembanyama, the rising NBA star, split two free throws, putting France ahead 71-68 with 10.9 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Dennis Schroder made a free throw to pull Germany within 71-69, Isaia Cordinier’s two free throws with 7.4 seconds left put the game out of reach.

"Incredible, incredible moment," Wembanyama said. "The fans made it hard for me not to cry. I thank them for being as they are and for enjoying it as much as they do, this chance, this thing that we’re all living."

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After an uneven performance in group play that included a narrow victory over Japan, a bad loss to Germany that resulted in public bickering between Evan Fournier and coach Vincent Collet and reduced minutes for Rudy Gobert, France rebounded in the knockout stage, beating Canada in the quarterfinals and 2023 FIBA World Cup champion Germany in the semis.

"Some inside stuff that happened between us. We talked it over," Fournier said. "This team's got so much heart, we've been through so much."

France finished without a medal at last year's FIBA World Cup, increasing the pressure to medal this summer.

"We really wanted to show that last year was an accident," Fournier said. "We weren't worth the tournament we had last year, and now we have our fans in front of us, and we gave them everything we have."

France cranked up the defense after falling behind 28-18 early in the second quarter. From that point to the midway point of the fourth quarter, France outscored Germany 48-25 for a 66-53 lead.

Guerschon Yabusele led France with 17 points and seven rebounds, and Cordinier scored 16 points and collected seven rebounds. Wembanyama, 20, made his presence felt with 11 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three blocks.

France earned silver at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, losing to the U.S. 87-82.

"We did not play our best game and they have changed a lot since we last saw them," Germany's Franz Wagner said. "Give them credit. They made some good adjustments and won the day."

Schroder led Germany with 18 points, and Wagner added 10 points and eight rebounds.

Follow NBA reporter Jeff Zillgitt on social media @JeffZillgitt

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