A Bilal Coulibaly dunk in transition has given France a 25-24 lead over the United States.

So, after not playing at all in France's semifinal win, Bilal Coulibaly received 10 consecutive minutes of playing time in the first half of the gold-medal game. Coulibaly didn't touch the ball much, but he was smart and efficient, making both shot attempts with an assist.

At halftime, playing for gold, the U.S. leads France 49-41. Devin Booker leads Team USA in scoring, with 13 points. Guerschon Yabusele has a game-high 15 points, and Victor Wembanyama has 13.

Washington really is such a beautiful city. There I was a few minutes ago, driving home from some errands, when I spotted this trio near the intersection of Massachusetts Ave. and Garfield:

The Washington Wizards will open their 2024-25 regular season on Oct. 24, hosting the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics in D.C. at 7 p.m. ET.

Deni Avdija’s Portland Trail Blazers will play in D.C. on Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. ET. It will be Avdija’s first regular-season game in Washington as an opposing player since his trade from the Wizards to the Blazers this offseason.

The Wizards will play five of their first six regular-season games at home: Oct. 24 vs. Celtics Oct. 26 vs. Cavaliers Oct. 28 at Atlanta Oct. 30 vs. Hawks Nov. 2 vs. Heat Nov. 4 vs. Warriors

Important note: That Nov. 2 game will be in Mexico City. So, while that game will count as a home game, it will not be at Capital One Arena.

The Wizards will have a difficult five-game road trip early in their season: Nov. 8 at Memphis Nov. 10 at Orlando Nov. 11 at Houston Nov. 13 at San Antonio Nov. 15 at Atlanta

Another long road trip is this six-game road trip, which at least will feature a short journey from San Francisco to Sacramento on a back-to-back: Jan. 18 at Golden State Jan. 19 at Sacramento Jan. 21 at L.A. Lakers Jan. 23 at Utah Jan. 25 at Phoenix Jan. 27 at Dallas

The Wizards' longest road trip in terms of the number of games is this seven-game trip in March: March 8: at Toronto March 10: at Toronto March 11: at Detroit March 13: at Detroit March 15: at Denver March 16: at LA Clippers March 18: at Portland

On March 16, the Wizards will make their first visit to the Intuit Dome, the brand-new home of the LA Clippers.

By my count, the Wizards will play 16 pairs of back-to-back games. But only three of those will be home-to-road back-to-backs: Nov. 17: vs. Pistons Nov. 18: at New York Jan. 7: vs. Rockets Jan. 8: at Philly March 21: vs. Magic March 22: at New York

Another fun fact, this one uncovered by the Wizards' media relations department: This season's seven-game road trip in March will be the franchise's longest road trip (as measured by the number of games) since a seven-game trip in March 2002 to the West Coast and Toronto.

The Washington Wizards are expected to waive Eugene Omoruyi today, a league source told The Athletic NBA. Omoruyi's salary of $2.2 million for the 2024-25 is non-guaranteed, and waiving him would reduce the Wizards' roster to 16 players, not counting people on two-way contracts.

Jordan Poole is hosting a back-to-school event this afternoon in Washington, not far from the Wizards' practice facility. Children are receiving backpacks filled with school supplies.

I don't think I've ever seen a player more proud of anything than Shohei Ohtani was after his beloved dog, Decoy, successfully retrieved last night's first pitch at Dodger Stadium.