U.S. Men’s Basketball Was Tested. Stephen Curry Had the Answer.

Stephen Curry had French defenders draped all over him like shrink wrap, but it hardly mattered. Fans across the world had seen this show before; only the stage was different. Playing in his first Olympics, Curry made the most of the moment, sinking a series of late 3-pointers — each more preposterous than the last — to lead the United States to a 98-87 win over France in the men’s basketball gold medal game.

Curry, the longtime face of the Golden State Warriors, scored 24 points as the United States won its fifth straight gold medal. He had plenty of help from fellow N.B.A. stars like Devin Booker and Kevin Durant, who scored 15 points apiece, and LeBron James, who added 14 points and collected his third gold medal — this time with flecks of gray in his beard.

The United States has now won gold in men’s basketball at eight of the last nine Olympics, a stretch of dominance that dates to 1992 with the formation of the so-called Dream Team at the Barcelona Games.

Since then, the sport’s global growth has meant that the talent gap has closed. Yes, the Americans won all six of their games in Paris. But they were threatened in the semifinals by Serbia, a team headlined by Nikola Jokic, the three-time N.B.A. most valuable player, trailing by as many as 17 points before escaping with a victory.

That left the United States with a chance for gold against France, which was led by Victor Wembanyama, 20, one of the N.B.A.’s emerging stars. At 7-foot-4, Wembanyama caused problems for a host of American defenders. He scored a game-high 26 points, but it was not quite enough — not against Curry, who made 8 of 13 3-pointers, and not against a U.S. team that was pushed but was not about to be broken.