Embiid has had to adjust here, to figure out when he can be the offensive force he always is for the Sixers and when he has to do other, subtler things to help his team win, and it was fair to doubt whether he would.
United States' Stephen Curry and United States' Joel Embiid 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. PARIS — In the wake of the best night of his basketball life, Joel Embiid was walking tall through an exit area of Bercy Arena on Thursday, slapping hands with Anthony Edwards, toweling off his sweat-sopped face, as at ease as he ever gets or has ever been.
For the record, here is what Embiid did once he reentered Thursday’s game with 7:19 left in regulation and the U.S. down eight: He dropped in a pull-up jump shot with 5:52 to go to make it 82-77. He softly banked in an and-one with 5 minutes left, then sank the free throw: Serbia 84, Team USA 80. On the next U.S. possession, he hit a fadeaway over his foil, Nikola Jokić, with 4:17 left, cutting Serbia’s lead to two.
Yes, Curry was downright remarkable: 36 points, 12-for-19 from the field, 9-for-14 from three-point range, perhaps the best shooting performance in an international game this century. And still the U.S. had to have every bit of what Embiid gave. “We’ve got a lot of great talent on the team,” Embiid said. “Tonight, it was different. I was more needed to score the ball, attack, whatever it takes to win. We knew this was going to be a test.
A great comparison for a while. But the beauty of Team USA’s talent and depth — in a game that still has a 24-second shot clock — is that that talent and depth can overwhelm even an opponent that’s playing flawless basketball. Jokić arguably is the best player in the world right now, but Serbia is asking him to do so much, and Embiid was a little fresher, a little faster at the end Thursday.
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