Live Updates: Victor Wembanyama, France vs. Team USA in Gold Medal Game
![Aug 8, 2024; Paris, France; France power forward Victor Wembanyama (32) looks on during the second half against Germany in a men's basketball semifinal game during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at Accor Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports Aug 8, 2024; Paris, France; France power forward Victor Wembanyama (32) looks on during the second half against Germany in a men's basketball semifinal game during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at Accor Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_3333,h_1874,x_0,y_42/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/inside_the_spurs/01j4ynk451efdt54fnk8.jpg)
After finishing with a silver medal against Team USA in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, France men's basketball is back in the gold medal match against the Americans once again in the Paris 2024 Games.
The French national team showed a lot of promise during its 2020 run, but they didn't have Victor Wembanyama, who San Antonio selected with the No. 1 overall pick of the 2023 NBA Draft.
The 7-foot-4 big man dipped his feet a bit deeper into the NBA pool with each game and showed steady improvement throughout the season. He quickly became a star who was living up to the all-time-high hype — named the unanimous NBA Rookie of the Year — and the runner-up for the prestigious Defensive Player of the Year Award.
Like most Olympic players, Wembanyama isn't averaging the same numbers as he does in the NBA, but he still leads France in points (13.8), rebounds (10.2), assists (3.6), steals (2.2) and blocks (2.0).
He's remained relatively consistent with each of these numbers over the five games played, as he hasn't really had a standout performance. French teammates Mathias Lessort, Isaia Cordinier and Guerschon Yabusele have each had a couple of contests that were good anomalies to their averages over the Games, and they're players to watch as well.
Wembanyama and company will be facing a team that is undefeated thus far in the Games and is led by NBA all-time leading scorer LeBron James, NBA all-time three-point leader Stephen Curry and Team USA Olympics all-time leading scorer Kevin Durant, among many other of the best players in the NBA/world.
This will be a massive challenge for Wembanyama and France but they have an opportunity to shock the world with a historic upset. If France pulls it off, it'll be the country's first gold medal in Olympic men's basketball.
The game is set to tip off at 2:30 p.m. CT and will air on NBC.
Follow along right here for live updates on Victor Wembanyama's performance in addition to his teammates and Team USA. BE SURE TO REFRESH YOUR PAGE AS LIVE UPDATES WILL BE AT THE TOP.
FINAL: Wembanyama hits a three to cut it to six, but Curry stays hot with a circus make from deep for the dagger and the gold medal. USA 98, France 87; Wembanyama led all scorers on both sides with 26 points on 11-of-19 from the field, including 3-of-8 from downtown, while grabbing seven rebounds, two assists and a steal.
1:14 left in fourth quarter: Curry, who's in his first Olympics, hits back-to-back threes to extend lead. He's up to seven makes from downtown. USA 93, France 84.
2:22 left in fourth quarter: Yabusele and Wembanyama cut it to three but a deep make from Curry silences the deafening France crowd. On the next possession for Team USA, Kevin Durant is fouled and makes two free throws; USA 87, France 79.
4:15 left in fourth quarter: Team USA keeps trying to pull away but France continues to make that an impossibility on both ends of the floor; USA 82, France 74.
End of the third quarter: USA and France go bucket-for-bucket, but a three by Evan Fournier and a buzzer-beating layup by Nando De Colo cuts it to a six-point deficit; USA 72, France 66; Wembanyama is up to 20 points with Yabusele right behind with 19.
4:01 left in third quarter: Wembanyama hits a three to cut it to a nine-point deficit, which forced Team USA to call timeout. He's made an impact on both ends this quarter in the comeback attempt. USA 65, France 56. Wembanyama leads France with 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting and Yabusele is right behind him with 19 points on 6-of-12 from the field.
6:57 left in third quarter: Team USA starts second half strong, including two threes from Stephen Curry. France calls timeout after suffering largest lead of game; USA 61, France 47.
HALFTIME: Team USA gains largest lead of 10 after guard Jrue Holiday hit from deep, but Yabusele made a tough contested layup at the buzzer to put the game in single digits as both teams head to the locker room; USA 49, France 41; Wembanyama at the half: 13 points on 6-of-10 from the field (1-of-3 from deep, five rebounds to assists; Yabusele: 15 points on 5-of-10 (1-of-3 from downtown), one rebound and one steal; Booker leads USA's scorers with 13 points on 5-of-7 from the field, including 2-of-3 from behind the arc.
2:13 left in second quarter: Yabusele gets and-1 dunk on James who was attempting to take a charge and sends crowd into a frenzy; Wembanyama then checked in after a few minutes of rest; USA 40, France 36.
3:26 left in second quarter: USA fights back to take lead but whistles blow as Booker has to be seperated from Yabusele for second time. Booker gets called for a common foul. USA's LeBron James gets fouled on made layup and France calls timeout (first free throw for either team all game); USA 36, France 31.
7:10 left in second quarter: France's Guerschon Yabusele and bench players Matthew Strazel and Bilal Coulibaly force Team USA timeout after a 8-0 run to hype up home crowd and take lead; France 25, USA 24.
End of first quarter: The pace for both sides cooled down a bit to end the first quaretr, but shots weren't being made as often in the period that had six lead changes. Team USA guard Anthony Edwards hit two threes towards the end of the period to increase small lead; USA 20, France 15; Wembanyama: 3-of-6 from the field (1-of-3 from deep), two rebounds, one assists. Next highest scorer on France has two points.
4:51 left in first quarter: France is matching Team USA with each bucket in fast-paced start by both sides. Wembanyama is tied with Team USA guard Devin Booker with seven points to lead all scorers; USA 12, France 11.
France Starters:
PG: Frank Ntilikina
SG: Isaia Cordinier
SF: Nicolas Batum
PF: Guerschon Yabusele
PF: Victor Wembanyama
Team USA Starters:
SG: Stephen Curry
G: Devin Booker
G: Kevin Durant
G: LeBron James
C: Joel Embiid
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