PARIS (AP) — Guerschon Yabusele scored 17 points and France beat Germany 73-69 in front of a rowdy crowd to advance to the men’s Olympic basketball gold medal game.
Isaia Cordinier added 16 points and Victor Wembanyama finished with 11 points and seven rebounds as France – which won the silver medal in Tokyo 3 years ago – reached its second direct Olympic final.
The victory drove the crowd crazy as France celebrated. After a post-match handshake with their German opponents, the entire team rushed to the baseline and waved to the crowd, who made more noise to acknowledge the tribute.
France will face the winner of United States-Serbia ? pic. twitter. com/VoRhSgc9iL
— NBA (@NBA) August 8, 2024
The Paris Games host will face the winner of Serbia and the United States on Saturday.
Dennis Schroder led Germany with 18 numbers. Franz Wagner added 10 points and 8 rebounds.
This ends the Germans’ streak over the last two years. Since winning last year’s World Cup, they had won 12 consecutive matches in major foreign competitions.
With French and German basketball icons Tony Parker and Dirk Nowitzki sitting side by side on the court, France outscored Germany 38-25 in the second and third quarters to earn a 56-50 merit in the fourth.
But Germany passed quietly.
They closed the score at 69-65 with a layup from Schroder with less than a minute left. After a weak shot by Frank Ntilikina, Germany reduced the lead to 70-68 with a deep three-pointer from Wagner.
France dribbled past the shot clock, but Nicolas Batum drew a blank on a 3-point attempt. Wagner picked up the rebound but went off the field as he tried to circle and dribble down the court. This forced Germany to commit a foul.
Wembanyama missed his first loose shot that followed, then fell in the moment to take a three-point lead with 10 minutes remaining.
France decided to foul and sent Schroder to the line. He also went 1 for 2, leaving France leading by two. Cordier fouled out and hit either loose throw to seal the game.
France stuck with the same modified starting lineup they used in their quarterfinal victory over Canada, opening the match with Wembanyama, Yabusele, Cordinier, Nicolas Batum and Ntilikina. Evan Fournier and Rudy Gobert, the game on the bench for the moment directly. game.
That year did not have the same early good luck, as Germany took a 12-2 lead.
That forced French coach Vincent Collet to replace things less than four minutes later, leaving Fournier and then Mathias Lessort to set things right. They did and France was back within seven points before the second quarter.
France continued the momentum, outscoring Germany 15-8 in the next 10 minutes to send the game into halftime tied at 33.
The flurry included a two-handed dunk through Wembanyama on a display-worthy Daniel Theis that brought the French fans to their feet.