Basketball On The Internet.

IF anyone can make a case for there being a greater long-range shooter in the history of basketball than Steph Curry, we'd all like to hear it. What he did for the USA against France in the Olympic men's Gold Medal Final had to be seen to be believed, and even then it took some believing.

Inside the last three minutes of the Final, Curry connected on four consecutive 3-point bombs to level the host nation and underpin a stunning 98-87 Gold Medal victory for a team on a hiding-to-nothing.

Win the Gold and it's a case of "so they should have". Lose the game and it's humiliation and disgrace for all, but mostly the coaching staff headed up by Steve Kerr.

Expected when you win, thankless if you don't.

Going down to the wire, USA ahead 82-79, Curry's first-of-four triples broke it out to 85-79 with 2:47 left.

Two free throws by Kevin Durant - who predicted "Dream Team-like" wins of the 40 to 50-point variety for this American outfit - made it 87-79, sliced back to 87-81 by Nando De Colo.

Curry's step-back three pumped it to 90-81, Nicolas Batum keeping French hopes on life support with a three of his own for 84-90.

But at 1:19, Curry again for three had the USA bench in a fit of revelry as he drove in the stake for 93-84.

It was France's prodigy Victor Wembanyama who declared the French resistance would continue with a 3-pointer for 87-93, 55 seconds left.

Then with 35 heartbeats to go, Curry again with a remarkable, pressured step-back 3-pointer put the match to bed at 96-87, only a rushed French play and a Devin Booker dunk left in this memorable tournament.

Curry finished with 24 points from 8-of-12 threeballs.

Do not let the final scoreline fool you though as France put up a performance you could only describe as tres bien, the USA though simply magnifique when it mattered.

LeBron James, named tournament MVP, produced a 14-point, 10-assist, 6-rebound, 2-steal and 1-block Final, one of his assists a wicked behind-the-back pass for an easy basket served on a silver platter. Excuse me. On a golden platter.

MVP of the tournament though? 

At 40, his Olympics were remarkable but remember he had some of the world's best players around him.

Most people not from Serbia would be hard-pressed to name more than two of Nikola Jokic's Serbian teammates, his tournament numbers presenting a fairly compelling argument.

In the end, despite the exhortations of a sold-out crowd and a tremendous effort from France, the USA left no doubt it remains the No.1 outfit in the world, whether the rest are gaining or not.

USA 98 (Curry 24, Booker, Durant 15, James 14; Davis 9 rebs; James 10 assts) d FRANCE 87 (Wembanyama 26, Yabusele 20, De Colo 12; Batum, 8 rebs; Batum 4 assts) for the Gold Medal.

MEN'S FINAL

USA 98 d France 87

BRONZE MEDAL

Serbia 93 d Germany 83

MEN'S SEMI FINALS

France 73 (Yabusele 17, Cordinier 16, Wembanyama 11, Lessort 10; Wembanyama, Yabusele, Cordinier 7 rebs; Wembanyama 4 assts) d Germany 69 (Schroder 18, F.Wagner 10, Theis, Obst 8; Theis 11 rebs; Theis 6 assts); USA 95 (Curry 36, Embiid 19, James 16; James 12 rebs; James 10 assts) d Serbia 91 (Bogdanovic 20, Jokic 17, Avramovic 15; Jokic, Milutinov, Petrusev 5 rebs; Jokic 11 assts).

MEN'S QUARTER-FINALS

Germany 76 d Greece 63, Serbia 95 d Australia 90 (O/T), France 82 d Canada 73, USA 122 d Brazil 87.

MEN'S INTRAGROUP RESULTS

Group A: Australia 92 d Spain 80, Canada 86 d Greece 79; Spain 84 d Greece 77, Canada 93 d Australia 83; Greece 77 d Australia 71, Canada 88 d Spain 85. Canada 3-0 (+20), Australia 1-2 (-4), Spain 1-2 (-8), Greece 1-2 (-8). Tied Teams Table: Australia 1-1 +6, Greece 1-1 -1, Spain 1-1 -5. Final Order: 1 Canada, 2 Australia, 3 Greece, 4 Spain.

Group B: Germany 97 d Japan 77, France 78 d Brazil 66; France 94 d Japan 90, Germany 86 d Brazil 73; Brazil 102 d Japan 84, Germany 85 d France 71. Germany 3-0 (+47), France 2-1 (+2), Brazil 1-2 (-7), Japan 0-3 (-42). Final Order: 1 Germany, 2 France, 3 Brazil, 4 Japan.

Group C: South Sudan 90 d Puerto Rico 79, USA 110 d Serbia 84; Serbia 107 d Puerto Rico 66, USA 103 d South Sudan 86; USA 104 d Puerto Rico 83; Serbia 96 d South Sudan 85. USA 3-0 (+64), Serbia 2-1 (+26), South Sudan 1-2 (-17), Puerto Rico 0-3 (-73). Final Order: 1 USA, 2 Serbia, 3 South Sudan, 4 Puerto Rico.