The United States men’s basketball team has inched to a 22-18 lead, overcoming a stuttering start, in the first quarter of this gold medal game against France.
Slow starts have been fairly typical for the United States at these Olympics, so maybe there is nothing for the Americans to worry about.
But France has shown glimpses of some of the problems they can pose in this game. Rudy Gobert and Guerschon Yabusele had one big dunk apiece in the opening moments of the game. Evan Fournier hit a 3-pointer to give France a 10-4 lead, forcing Gregg Popovich to call a timeout with 5:28 left in the quarter.