Kevin Durant was clearly the star of this United States men’s basketball team, but Celtics forward Jayson Tatum was their second-best player in several games, including Friday night’s 87-82 gold medal game victory over France.
Durant again led the way with 29 points, but Tatum’s 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting were second on the team and proved critical in a game that remained close until late in the fourth quarter. Tatum’s three with 3:25 left in the game stretched the Americans’ lead to 10 and just about put the game out of reach. Tatum also had a team-high seven rebound and team-best plus-12 rating in the game.
The win gave the U.S. its fourth straight Olympic gold and 15th overall in the 19 Olympics men’s basketball has been contested. It also served as revenge for the Americans’ loss to France in their group stage opener, a loss that added to concerns about a U.S. team that had also lost two exhibition games in the lead-up to the Olympics.
The U.S. responded by winning five straight games en route to gold, and the 23-year-old Tatum -- anointed by Durant earlier this tournament as the player who would eventually break his Olympic scoring record -- finished the tournament as the team’s second-leading scorer behind Durant with 15.2 points per game.
Oddly enough, U.S. coach Gregg Popovich did not have Tatum on the floor for much of the final two minutes of the game, and it nearly cost the Americans as their offense went a bit stale down the stretch. Durant sealed the win with two late free throws after France had cut the lead to three with 10 seconds to go, though.
Tatum is the first Celtic to win Olympic gold since Larry Bird, who did it with the 1992 Dream Team in Barcelona.
Former Celtics Evan Fournier and Guerschon Yabusele had 16 and 13 points, respectively, in the losing effort for France.
"It's an incredible feeling. Something you always dream about," Tatum told NBC after the game. "I can remember being in high school and watching these guys win the gold medal, and now to play alongside them and win one, and in a climate like this, everything that we went through, not being able to bring our family. I know Deuce is watching. This is an amazing feeling."