PARIS – All it took to stop Nikola Jokic from stealing the moon and turning the Olympics upside down was a dream team of NBA All-Stars and three of the lamest stooges to ever referee a basketball game.

Yes, Steph Curry, LeBron James and a U.S. roster that reads like the official waiting list for the Naismith Hall of Fame escaped Thursday with a 95-91 victory against Jokic and a Serbian team he recruited from dudes drinking Rakija and smoking cigs at a dive bar in Belgrade.

But after exhaling with relief that his team will play for a gold medal that folks back home had preordained, American coach Steve Kerr spoke the ball-don’t-lie truth about a game worthy of hanging in the Louvre, one of the fiercest battles on the court he has ever witnessed.

“Nikola Jokic,” Kerr said, “is the best basketball player on Earth.”

That’s a big compliment, to be sure.

But it’s also an understatement of how Jokic can transform ordinary teammates into basketball wizards with a wave of his wand.

After pushing Team USA to the brink and nearly pulling off the biggest upset on the hardwood since Villanova beat Georgetown during March Madness way back in 1986, it’s time for the world to recognize Jokic as basketball royalty, no worse than the second greatest talent of this generation behind King James.

Game knows game. And U.S. center Joel Embiid wrapped Jokic in a big hug after the final buzzer.

“Nikola? Like I’ve always said, I’m a big, big fan. Love his game. Lots of respect,” said Embiid, giving Jokic his flowers for 17 points, five rebounds and 11 assists.

With no bona fide NBA talent on his side other than Bogdan Bogdonavic, Jokic weaved magic that freed teammates for open looks they nailed from three-point range and put Serbia ahead by as much as 42-25 in the first half.

Team USA, which entered the semifinals a 16-point favorite, was rescued by a masterclass in long-distance marksmanship by Curry, whose 36 points was the hero ball needed in desperate times.

With a stubborn refusal to lose, James called on every fiber of muscle in his 39-year-old body to guard Jokic, the essential defensive adjustment that allowed Team USA to nudge ahead 87-86, finally taking a lead it would never relinquish, with only two minutes, 24 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.

“A lot of B.S., happens in our country,” said Kevin Durant, puffing out his chest in celebration of the fading old glory of red, white and blue basketball. “But a lot of great things happen, too.”

Well, it’s going to hurt made-in-America pride to admit this, but Joker was robbed.

Serbia would be playing France on Saturday night for the Olympic championship if not for a sketchy bit of officiating stolen straight from the NBA book that makes fans believe the playoffs are rigged because superstars always get the favorable whistle.

“I’m not that type of a guy to talk about the referee, and I even wanted to win against the referees, too,” said Bogdanovic, who ripped the three officials for being unable to look weeping Serbian teammates in the eye after the loss.

“At the end, they just walked off, they didn’t even say: ‘OK, good job, blah, blah, blah.’ They just walked away.”

Here’s what not only had Serbia fuming, but shattered Cinderella’s glass slipper: With the feisty underdogs leading 78-67 nearly three minutes into the final period, Durant drained a three-point jumper in front of the Serbia bench, as Jokic tripped over Anthony Davis trying to contest the shot.

The three stooges officiating the game counted Durant’s shot, as they should have. But then the refs took a hammer to Serbia, calling a foul on Jokic and awarding the ball out of bounds to the United States, which immediately converted the gift one second later into another three-point bucket by Devin Booker.

Those two seconds changed everything. The USA benefited from what amounted to a six-point possession.

Had the same thing happened to Jokic while he was wearing a Nuggets uniform, there would’ve been cell phones hurled in anger at Denver televisions and cries of bias.

“I don’t know the rules, but (the USA) didn’t need that kind of help against us,” Bogdanovic said. “And we didn’t get that kind of help.”

Although Kerr said he was humbled by watching near-perfect basketball, Jokic ultimately stumbled and fell in a war of attrition. He missed all six of his attempts from three-point range. His legs showed weariness that was sensed by Embiid, who blew by him more than once when Serbia needed a defensive stop.

I’m afraid Joker might’ve cost himself MVP votes in 2024-25, as no fewer than three distinguished journalists from national media outlets in the United States chided me, like it was my fault, because Jokic blew through the mixed zone after the loss without speaking or sharing his thoughts to anyone.

So let’s give the final word to a veteran NBA coach that was grateful Jokic was unable to run out the clock before he ran out of gas.

“He’s such an incredible player, there’s not many answers for Jokic,” Kerr said. “We just barely had enough time to catch” Serbia and the greatest basketball player on Earth.