Tokyo Olympics 2020: Team USA defeat France to win fourth consecutive gold medal

The United States of America's (USA) men's basketball team won their fourth consecutive gold medal at the Olympic Games after defeating France 87-82 on Friday, August 7, in the final at the Tokyo Olympics 2020. Kevin Durant led the US to victory with 29 points and six rebounds as he did not mess around during his time at the Tokyo Olympics to win his third Gold medal at the Olympic Games.

"We tried to make him work as hard as we can, but he's Kevin Durant," France center Rudy Gobert said in the post-match press conference. "He's going to hit shots that only him, in the world, can hit. I think he's the best scorer in basketball. He's going to do what he does, especially on the biggest stage."

How the match played out

Team USA were working hard from the beginning of the match with Durant and Khris Middleton leading the charge as they finished the first half with a strong six-point lead with France at 39 and the USA at 44. Going into the second half, the US continued their charge but faced a tough fightback from France as they cut the lead to three points with 10.2 seconds to go and a timeout called. With the scores at 85-82 play resumed and France went straight for the personal foul as Durant had two at the line and sunk both his throws. France then took a timeout and after that Nicolas Batum attempted a shot from the three-point line but missed and the buzzer went off to hand the USA their fourth consecutive gold medal at the Olympic Games.

Damian Lillard, who struggled pretty much his entire duration in Tokyo, finally found some rhythm late and hit a couple of big three-pointers to make his line look slightly better. Apparently, some of Lillard's struggles can be explained by an injury he was fighting through. 

"I think it's more joy than relief, but definitely some relief," Lillard said. "Because of the expectations that get placed on Team USA, obviously it's going to be some relief."

(Image Credits: @usabasketball - Twitter)