US men's basketball team rallies to beat Serbia at Paris Olympics, will face France for gold medal

PARIS (AP) — Down by 11 in the fourth quarter, against what looked like overwhelming odds, the U.S. Olympic men's basketball team got a spark.

Six points in two seconds.

Kevin Durant and Devin Booker provided that wild sequence to start the comeback, Stephen Curry had a scoring night like almost none other in U.S. Olympic history, and the Americans will play for gold at the Paris Games. Curry scored 36 points, including a go-ahead 3-pointer with 2:16 left, and the U.S. beat Serbia 95-91 in a semifinal classic on Thursday night.

LeBron James had the fourth triple-double in Olympic history for the U.S., which trailed by 17 points in the first half and faced an 11-point halftime deficit — the biggest one successfully overcome by an American team since NBA players were added to the Olympic mix in 1992.

“I've seen a lot of Team USA basketball,” Curry said. “And that was a special one.”

Serbia led by 11 with 7:19 left. The rest of the way, it was all U.S. The Americans won a game where they led for 3 minutes, 25 seconds. Serbia led for 35:12 — nearly 90% of the game.

But it’ll be the U.S. against host France for gold in a dream matchup for the host nation on Saturday, while Serbia will face Germany earlier Saturday for bronze. The gold-medal game is a rematch from the Tokyo Games three years ago, where the Americans prevailed 87-82.

“I’m really humbled to have been a part of this game," U.S. coach Steve Kerr said, tipping his hat multiple times to Serbia. “It’s one of the greatest basketball games I’ve ever been a part of. They were perfect. They played a perfect game. Our coaches were saying Villanova-Georgetown, for all of our older readers and viewers out there.

"But they played the perfect game, and they forced us to reach the highest level of competition that we could find. And our guys were incredible in that fourth quarter, and they got it done.”

Joel Embiid scored 19 points on 8 for 11 shooting and James added 16 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists for the U.S., which is now assured of its 20th medal in 20 Olympic appearances.

“Joel was everything," said James, who has two of the four triple-doubles in Olympic men's history; he also had one in 2012, while the Soviet Union's Aleksander Belov in 1976 and Slovenia's Luka Doncic in 2021 had the others. “Made every big shot.”

Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 20 points for Serbia, which got 17 from Nikola Jokic and 15 from Aleksa Avramovic. The Serbians were 0-3 against the U.S. this summer, getting blown out in the first two meetings and then looking poised for a win of their own on Thursday.

The whole game changed in the fourth after a wild sequence saw the U.S. score six points in two seconds. Durant made a 3-pointer while Anthony Davis was getting fouled. The U.S. got another possession because of the foul, and Booker immediately made another 3-pointer.

Just like that, a 78-67 lead for Serbia was down to 78-73. The comeback was on, and Curry's 3 put the U.S. up for good. He added a pair of free throws with 8.2 seconds left to make it a two-possession game and the Americans escaped.

Curry's 36 points were the second-most in a game by a U.S. men's player in Olympic history, one shy of Carmelo Anthony's record 37 against Nigeria in 2012. And Anthony, sitting courtside, was Curry's biggest cheerleader. When the Americans tied it with about 3:35 left, Curry gave Anthony a big smile. When the go-ahead 3 rattled home, Anthony leaped from his seat. And when it was over, the two shared a long embrace.

“That was a godlike performance," Durant said of Curry.

Serbia coach Svetislav Petic kept saying the same thing all summer, that the team the U.S. put together for the Paris Games was better than any in Olympic history. Even the Dream Team, he insisted. His mind wasn't changed after this one.

“They're that good,” he said.

A barrage of Serbian 3-pointers had the Americans squarely on the ropes, until the game changed in the fourth. But in the end, the U.S. improved to 144-6 all-time in Olympic play, 63-4 since NBA players were added to the Olympics in 1992.

“Perseverance, hard work dedication, Chef Curry and Joel ‘Process’ Embiid,” James said. “Big-time win for us. We knew we were going to be challenged. We knew it was going to be the toughest game to date. Total effort.”

Gold is the goal, but that didn't keep the U.S. from celebrating upon returning to the team hotel. Down 42-25 at one point, down 11 in the fourth, the Americans outscored the Serbians 32-15 in the final quarter.

“I know we want to win the gold, but you've got to celebrate the small moments, too,” Durant said in a video distributed by USA Basketball well after midnight as he grabbed a postgame meal next to his mother, Wanda. “Guarantee you, everybody in here, they'll never forget this night. Everybody in here will remember this night for the rest of their lives. That's how special this is.”

The comeback kept Durant’s hopes of becoming the first four-time Olympic men’s gold medalist very much alive and gave the U.S. a chance to return to the international basketball mountaintop. The Americans were fourth at the World Cup last summer, a result that spurred some NBA stars like James and Curry to be part of this team.

And of all the U.S. semifinal moments, this was like few others. The four-point final margin was the second closest in American history in the Olympic semifinals; the U.S. beat Lithuania by two in the 2000 semifinals in Sydney, on the way to gold there.

They're one win away from another.

“I'm 39 years old, going into my 22nd season, I don't know how many opportunities and moments I'm going to get like this to compete for something, compete for something big and play in big games,” James said. “And tonight was a big game.”

AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

Nikola Jokic (15), of Serbia shoots over United States' Joel Embiid (11) during a men's semifinals basketball game at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Nikola Jokic (15), of Serbia shoots over United States' Joel Embiid (11) during a men's semifinals basketball game at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Nikola Jokic (15), of Serbia tries to shoot past United States' Devin Booker (15) during a men's semifinal basketball game at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Paris, France. (Gregory Shamus/Pool Photo via AP)

Nikola Jokic (15), of Serbia drives to the basket against United States' LeBron James (6) during a men's semifinals basketball game at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Nikola Jokic (15), of Serbia argues a call against the United States during a men's semifinals basketball game at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

United States' Kevin Durant (7) celebrates a basket in the final minutes against Serbia during a men's semifinals basketball game at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

United States' Stephen Curry (4) celebrates against Serbia during a men's semifinals basketball game at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

United States' Kevin Durant (7), LeBron James (6) and Steph Curry (4) celebrate after beating Serbia during a men's semifinals basketball game at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

United States' Stephen Curry (4) and United States' Joel Embiid (11) celebrate after a men's semifinals basketball game against Serbia at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

United States' Stephen Curry (4) celebrates a basket in the final minutes against Serbia during a men's semifinals basketball game at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

United States' Kevin Durant (7), LeBron James (6) and Steph Curry (4) celebrate after beating Serbia during a men's semifinals basketball game at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

United States' LeBron James (6) shoots during a men's semifinal basketball game against Serbia at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill,Pool)

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis on Monday named the first woman to head a major Vatican office, appointing an Italian nun, Sister Simona Brambilla, to become prefect of the department responsible for all the Catholic Church's religious orders.

The appointment marks a major step in Francis’ aim to give women more leadership roles in governing the church. While women have been named to No. 2 spots in some Vatican offices, never before has a woman been named prefect of a dicastery or congregation of the Holy See Curia, the central governing organ of the Catholic Church.

The historic nature of Brambilla’s appointment was confirmed by Vatican Media, which headlined its report “Sister Simona Brambilla is the first woman prefect in the Vatican.”

The office is one of the most important in the Vatican. Known officially as the Dicastery for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, it is responsible for every religious order, from the Jesuits and Franciscans to smaller newer movements.

In an indication of the novelty of the appointment, and the theological implications involved, Francis simultaneously named as a co-leader, or “pro-prefect,” a cardinal: Ángel Fernández Artime, a Salesian.

But the appointment, announced in the Vatican daily bulletin, lists Brambilla first as “prefect” and Fernández second as her co-leader, which theologically is necessary since the prefect must be able to celebrate Mass and perform other sacramental functions that currently can only be done by men.

Brambilla, 59, is a member of the Consolata Missionaries religious order and had served as the No. 2 in the religious orders department since last year. She takes over from the retiring Cardinal Joao Braz de Aviz, 77.

Francis made Brambilla’s appointment possible with his 2022 reform of the Holy See’s founding constitution, which allowed laypeople, including women, to head a dicastery and become prefects.

Brambilla, a nurse, worked as a missionary in Mozambique and led her Consolata order as superior from 2011-2023, when Francis made her secretary of the religious orders department.

Her appointment is the latest move by Francis to show by example how women can take leadership roles within the Catholic hierarchy, albeit without allowing them to be ordained as priests.

Catholic women do much of the church’s work in schools, hospitals and passing down the faith to future generations. But they have long complained of second-class status in an institution that reserves the priesthood for men.

Francis has upheld the ban on female priests and tamped down hopes that women could be ordained as deacons.

But there has been a marked increase in the percentage of women working in the Vatican during his papacy, including in leadership positions, from 19.3% in 2013 to 23.4% today, according to statistics reported by Vatican News. In the Curia alone, the percentage of women is 26%.

Among the women holding leadership positions are Sister Raffaella Petrini, the first-ever female secretary general of the Vatican City State, responsible for the territory’s health care system, police force and main source of revenue, the Vatican Museums, which are led by a laywoman, Barbara Jatta.

Another nun, Sister Alessandra Smerilli, is the No. 2 in the Vatican development office while several women have been appointed to under-secretary positions, including the French nun, Sister Nathalie Becquart, in the synod of bishops' office.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Pope Francis kisses the baby Jesus as he presides over an Epiphany mass in St.Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope Francis waves during the Angelus noon prayer on the occasion of the Epiphany day from the window of his studio overlooking St.Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)