France gave everything they
could in front of the home crowd in Paris and they delivered after
overcoming reigning world champions Germany, 73-69, at the Bercy
Arena in Paris, France for the 2024 Paris
Olympics.
France once again fed off the
energy from the loud crowd in Paris to eke out a win against a
favored opponent for the second straight game. France notably
defeated Canada who were filled with legit NBA talent from top to
bottom in the quarterfinals, and now they beat the reigning world
champions in Germany.
France started strong yet again
with Guerschon Yabusele starting over Rudy Gobert. Yabusele
provided the physicality inside to power through Germany’s
frontline en route to scoring 17 points and grabbing 7 rebounds.
Isaia Cordinier, who also stepped up in the knockout rounds for
France, backed him up with 16 points of his own
French phenom Victor Wembanyama
struggled for a second straight game offensively with just 11
points on 4/17 shooting but he did have 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and
3 blocks.
Dennis Schroder once again led
the world champs’ attack with 18 points but he shot just 6/18 from
the field and missed one crucial free throw at the end that would
have cut the lead to just one. Franz Wagner, who was the Germans’
leading scorer against Canada with 26 points, only scored 10 points
against a tough and tall French frontline.
France will now await the winner
of the USA-Serbia matchup for their opponents in the gold medal
match.
