Stephen Curry leads huge Team USA comeback vs. Serbia; what is Jerry Jones doing with the Cowboys?

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🏀 Good morning to everyone, but especially to …

STEPHEN CURRY, JOEL EMBIID AND TEAM USA MEN’S BASKETBALL

Stephen Curry had dazzled on the biggest stages, ripping nets in the NBA Finals and shredding brackets in the NCAA Tournament.

This was more than a slow start. Much more. It was all Team USA could handle. The Americans trailed by as many as 17 points and trailed by 13 entering the fourth quarter before outscoring Serbia 32-15. Fittingly, it was Curry who gave the U.S. the lead late in the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer, its first lead since the opening seconds. Brad Botkin broke down the comeback in six key plays, including Curry’s ninth 3-pointer of the game.

• Botkin: “You could argue this was the biggest shot of Curry’s career. … He had not had a good tournament to this point in his first Olympics, but he absolutely saved the day when the Americans needed him most. His 36 points, on nine 3-pointers, goes down as the second-highest single game Olympic performance in U.S. men’s basketball history, one off Carmelo Anthony‘s 37 piece in 2012. It’s worth noting, however, that Anthony’s 37 came in an 83-point win over Nigeria in 2012. The Americans needed every single one of Curry’s 36 points. This was arguably the most important individual performance in U.S. men’s Olympic history. 

We’d be remiss to not praise Joel Embiid, who scored 19 points — including seven straight in the fourth quarter — and provided exactly what the U.S. needed with Anthony Davis and Bam Adebayo not doing much. His one-on-one scoring against Nikola Jokic was really impressive and a reminder of just how good he can be. And while LeBron James and Kevin Durant will also get credit for huge buckets, as they should, I wrote about why Devin Booker was an unsung hero as well.

Here’s how NBA stars past and present reacted to the thriller.

The United States will play France tomorrow for the gold medal, and the United States will hope to patch up some holes from a very inconsistent — and often concerning — outing, Bill Reiter writes.

This was an all-timer: a three-time MVP battling a team full of MVPs, two redemption stories and, ultimately, a win powered by an all-time great. I can’t wait for tomorrow.

👍 Honorable mentions

🏃 And not such a good morning for …

CEEDEE LAMB, JERRY JONES AND THE DALLAS COWBOYS

Jerry Jones has been an NFL owner since 1989, and yet somehow he still doesn’t get it. The Cowboys owner ruffled feathers yet again when he said “I don’t have a sense of urgency about getting it done” regarding CeeDee Lamb‘s contract extension.

Lamb, who is holding out from training camp and has not been with Dallas all offseason, simply responded with “lol.” on X … and then removed “America’s Team” from his bio. Micah Parsons retweeted Lamb’s tweet.

Listen, the social media stuff isn’t as important as what’s actually happening. Jones hasn’t extended Dak Prescott or Lamb or Parsons, the Cowboys’ franchise cornerstones. He’s not spending much money elsewhere on the roster. There’s reason to believe this is the Cowboys’ last run as we know them.

Jones went from “all in” to “get it done with less” early this offseason, an all-too-familiar 360, and now Prescott, in the final year of his deal, doesn’t have his top target, the one who helped make him a legitimate MVP candidate last year. Outside of established veteran Brandin Cooks, Prescott’s been working with Jalen Tolbert, KaVontae Turpin, Jalen Brooks and Jalen Cropper on the first team. With all due respect to those players, that’s not exactly ideal.

And yet here’s Jones continuing to make things harder on everyone involved, including himself. This summer has seen the wide receiver market explode, and instead of Jones getting ahead of it, he is woefully behind on it. Same for quarterback.

All this came one day after Emmitt Smith ripped the Cowboys’ handling of the Prescott and Lamb negotiations. Jones’ words and (in)actions are only making things worse.

👎 Not so honorable mentions

🏃Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone wins gold again in 400-meter hurdles, COVID-19 disrupts Noah Lyles’ 200-meter dash

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone is one of one … and more dominant than ever before. McLaughlin-Levrone became the first woman to win multiple Olympic golds in the 400-meter hurdles, and she broke her own world record in the process with a stunning 50.37. It was 1.5 seconds faster than her closest competitor.

Matt Norlander describes her as “the most unbeatable track athlete in the world.”

• Norlander: “McLaughlin-Levrone can claim supremacy over her sport like Simone Biles and Katie Ledecky do in theirs. It is a joy to watch her so effortlessly gallup past so-called competitors. It makes the pre-race chatter even more hilarious after the fact. … At 25 years old, these Games represent the true star turn for McLaughlin-Levrone. She burst onto the scene in Tokyo, and, yes, in the track and field world she’s been the envy of most for years. But in showing out so definitively in front of fans on the Paris stages, McLaughlin-Levrone upped her profile to the highest tier for an American Olympian, especially when you factor in how she hasn’t lost in the 400m hurdles in five years.”

Noah Lyles carried a similar air of invincibility into the men’s 200-meter dash … until he didn’t. After winning the 100-meter dash Sunday, Lyles tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, and even though he was able to compete, he was unable to complete the 100-200 double he’d been dreaming of, winning bronze while Botswana‘s Letsile Tebogo and the USA’s Kenny Bednarek took gold and silver, respectively.

Lyles ran a 19.70 — well off his personal-best 19.31 — and received medical assistance immediately after finishing. He was originally expected to be part of today’s 4×100 relay, but on Instagram he said, “I believe this will be the end of my 2024 Olympics.”

Carl Lewis (1984) remains the last American man to do the 100-200 double gold. Here’s more from Paris:

🏈 Top five Week 1 preseason games

All right, the 2024 NFL preseason is under way! In the pouring rain, the Giants beat the Lions, and the Patriots beat the Panthers as most of the starters sat out. It was very preseason-y: not always the best football but certainly fun. We’re glad it’s back.

The other 28 teams take the field this weekend (full schedule here), and Bryan DeArdo has the top five games to watch, led by …

• DeArdo: “Texans at Steelers — Buckle up for this one, as both teams are slated to roll out their starters in a matchup between two playoff teams from a year ago. C.J. Stroud will get his first reps of the preseason a year after his record-setting rookie season. … Oh yeah, this game also includes Justin Fields getting his first career start in the black and gold. Fields is looking to strengthen his position in his position battle against Russell Wilson, who won’t be in uniform.”

📺 What we’re watching this weekend

🥇 We’re watching the Olympics. Here’s how.

Friday

🏀 Women’s basketball — Semifinal: USA vs. Australia, 11:30 a.m. on NBC
⚾ Guardians at Twins, 2:10 p.m. on MLB Network
🏈 Texans at Steelers, 7 p.m. on NFL Network
⚾ Rangers at Yankees or Astros at Red Sox, 7:05 p.m. on MLB Network
⚾ Mets at Mariners or Pirates at Dodgers, 10:10 p.m. on MLB Network

Saturday

⚽ Women’s Soccer — Final: USWNT vs. Brazil, 11 a.m. on NBC
🏈 Bears at Bills, 1 p.m. on NFL Network
⚾ Rangers at Yankees, 1:05 p.m. on MLB Network
🏀 Men’s Basketball — Final: USA vs. France, 3:30 p.m. on NBC
🏈 Raiders at Vikings, 4 p.m. on NFL Network
⚾ Astros at Red Sox, 4:10 p.m. on FS1
⚾ Orioles at Rays or Cubs at White Sox, 7:15 p.m. on Fox
🏈 Chiefs at Jaguars, 7 p.m. on NFL Network
⚾ Mets at Mariners, 9:40 p.m. on MLB Network

Sunday

🏀 Women’s Basketball — Final, 9:30 a.m. on NBC
🏈 Broncos at Colts, 1 p.m. on NFL Network
⚾ Rangers at Yankees or Orioles at Rays, 1:35 p.m. on MLB Network
🥇 2024 Paris Olympics Closing Ceremony, 3 p.m. on NBC
🏈 Cowboys at Rams, 4:30 p.m. on NFL Network
⚾ Mets at Mariners, 7 p.m. on ESPN