2024 Olympics Basketball – USA, Serbia, France and Germany Advance to the Semifinals

The 2024 Paris Olympics has been exciting beyond belief, and yesterday's men's basketball tournament was a major highlight for the fans.

The Men’s basketball tournament at the Olympics has reached a crucial stage, with just four teams remaining. On Day 11, the men's basketball quarterfinals took center stage with some truly exciting matchups. The host nation France pulled off a win against gold medal contenders Canada.  

Team USA triumphed over Brazil, Nikola Jokic's Serbia outplayed Australia, and Germany managed to defeat Giannis Antetokounmpo and Greece. However, if you failed to catch all the amazing action, do not worry because we’ve got you covered. 

1) France 82 – 73 Canada 

Going into the game, Canada were expected to beat France and advance into the semis. However, lofty expectations proved be a burden too heavy for the Canadian, as they succumbed to a surprising defeat. However, France possesses a stacked roster filled with NBA talents like Rudy Gobert, Evan Fournier and Victor Wembanyama.  

However, it was the unheralded trio of Guerschon Yabusele, Isaia Cordinier and Mathias Lessort who made all the difference. Yabusele and Cordinier scored the most buckets for Les Bleus, with Yabusele scoring 22 points and Cordinier adding a further 20 points. Victor Wembanyama had an off night, as the Canadians restricted him to 7 points on 2-of-10 shooting splits. 

However, Canada couldn’t capitalize on Wembanyama’s off night, as apart from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and RJ Barrett, every Canadian struggled. Jamal Murray had a terrible game, scoring just 7 points on 3-of-13 shooting splits. SGA ended the game with a game-high 27 points, along with five rebounds and four assists. 

French head coach Vincent Collet’s tactics shone through in the quarters. His decision to bench veterans like Fournier and Gobert in favor of Cordinier and Frank Ntilikina was a masterstroke. Les Bleus brutally exposed Canada’s lack of size, as they constantly fed the ball to their 7-footers inside the paint. This meant that France was in complete control of the game. However, Canada did manage to lower the deficit to just five points in the fourth quarter. But Les Bleus expertly saw the game out. 

2) USA 122 – 87 Brazil 

Team USA breezed past Brazil to advance into the semifinals. They have been the most dominant team of the tournament, and few were backing Brazil to cause an upset of massive proportions. The quality of USA proved too much for a valiant Brazil side. Despite possessing several NBA All-Star, Devin Booker is the player that has impressed fans the most. He led the charge for USA in the quarters, racking up 18 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists in just 15 minutes of playing time. Furthermore, he also shot the lights off, finishing the game with 5-of-7 from beyond the arc. 

Kevin Durant and Joel Embiid also made vital contributions. KD scored 11 points, while Embiid contributed a further 14 points. Meanwhile, LeBron James ended the game with 10 points, 8 assists and 4 steals. King James also had a perfect shooting night, converting all four of his attempts.  

Team USA dominated the contest from start to finish. In fact, Brazil led the game for just 34 seconds. The reason behind the American dominance on the night was their remarkable shooting. Team USA shot an impressive 58% from the field. They also nailed 15 from downtown with a 48% success rate.  

3) Serbia 95 – 90 Australia 

Arguably the most competitive game of the night, Serbia and Australia played out a thriller in the quarterfinals. Both the teams were equally matched in talent and quality. However, three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic proved to be the difference maker. He willed Serbia to a remarkable win over the Aussies in overtime. Jokic finished the game with 21 points, 14 boards, 9 assists and 4 steals. Atlanta Hawks guard Bogdan Bogdanovic adeptly supported Jokic, as he chipped in with 17 points.  

Serbia’s win becomes even more remarkable when considering the fact that the Aussies raced to a 14-point led in the first quarter. Australia continued their dominance, as they lead by 24 points at one point in the second quarter. However, a herculean effort by the Serbs in the third quarter narrowed the gap, as they outscored Australia 25-11 during this time period. Serbians completed an incredible comeback, as they led the game by 2 points in the final seconds of the fourth quarter. 

However, Aussie stalwart Patty Mills converted a tough fadeaway jumper with just 1.4 seconds left on the clock. The game went to overtime and Australia again took the lead, with Josh Giddey hitting a three-pointer. But Nikola Jokic took over the game after that. With just 25 seconds left in overtime, Jokic converted a baseline 3-pointer to hand the Serbs a crucial three-point lead. They held on to that lead. This Serbian comeback is officially the biggest comeback in Olympics basketball history. 

4) Germany 76 – 63 Greece 

Many basketball fans think that this German side are the team that USA fears. And yesterday, they delivered a thoroughly professional performance against Greece and Giannis Antetokounmpo. The reigning world champions eased past Greece, who didn’t put up much of a fight. Now, Germany are just two games away from winning the Olympics gold medal. 

Orlando Magic star Franz Wagner led Germany in scoring, as the youngster contributed 18 points to Germany’s victory. Toronto Raptors guard Dennis Schroder chipped in with 13 points and 8 assists. On the other hand, Giannis led the game in scoring, notching up 22 points. However, his efforts proved pointless, as Greece couldn’t deal with the quality of the Germans. Germany now faces France in the semifinals.