The 2024 Olympic men’s basketball tournament is heading into the tournament portion of the event. Serbia closed out Group play with a victory over South Sudan, thus finalizing the quarterfinal bracket. So, who is advancing to the 2024 men’s Olympic knockout stage?
The United States will be the top seed. The Americans dispatched Puerto Rico 104-83 to finish 3-0 in Group play earlier today. It marked the 58th time the US topped the century mark in Olympic play, as nine players scored at least eight points, including seven reaching double figures.
Anthony Edwards scored a team-high 26 points on 11 of 15 shooting, including 3 of 5 from the 3-point line, in 17:16 minutes. It was by far Edwards’ best performance of the tournament, as he added three boards, three assists, and two steals, along with an efficiency rating of 25.0.
Joel Embiid, who didn’t play against South Sudan, also turned in his best performance with 15 points, though he was an inefficient 6 of 14 from the field. LeBron James continued to be the US’s best player, chipping in 10 points, eight assists, and six rebounds. The best news was that he only committed one turnover. Kevin Durant and Anthony Davis also scored in double-figures, while Jayson Tatum produced his first Olympic double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
“The best fun ever, man,” Edwards told NBC of his Olympic experience thus far. “You know, growing up watching KD and Bron go at it in the Finals and watching Steph (Curry) and Bron go at it in Finals. This is a dream come true that I get to play alongside those guys so I’m making the most of it.”
2024 Olympic Men’s Basketball: Quarterfinals Set, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bogdan Bogdanovic, And Kevin Durant, Plus More
While Germany and Canada also finished with 3-0 identical records, the US’s +64 scoring margin was far superior to the Germans’ (+40) and the Canadians’ (+20). The US won each game by at least 17 points, scoring a 2024 Olympic-best 105.8 points per game.
Germany is the second seed, and Canada is third. Serbia (2-1) will be the fourth seed after its victory over upstart South Sudan this afternoon. As a result of Serbia’s win, South Sudan (1-2 record, -17 point differential) was knocked out, and Greece (1-2, -8) reached the Quarterfinals. France (2-1) is the fifth seed, while Australia (1-2) is sixth and Brazil (1-2) is seventh.
Paris will host the remaining Olympic games.
“We’ve seen almost everybody, but we haven’t seen Brazil, and that’s our focus, USA coach Steve Kerr said. “I believe that’s the matchup, I don’t know if it’s official yet, but we’ve gotta be ready, they made 18 threes yesterday, and they are the best offensive rebounding team in the tournament, so we have to be ready.”
Olympic Remaining Schedule
Tuesday, August 6
Greece vs. Germany, 5 am (ET), E!, Peacock, and NBCOlympics.com
Serbia vs. Australia, 8:30 am (ET)., USA Network, Peacock, and NBCOlympics.com
France vs. Canada, Noon, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com
USA vs. Brazil, 3:30 pm, USA Network, Peacock, and NBCOlympics.com
Thursday, August 8
Winner of Greece/Germany vs. Winner of Serbia/Australia, 11:30 am; USA Network, Peacock, and NBCOlympics.com
Winner of France/Canada vs. Winner of USA/Brazil, TBD vs. TBD, 3 pm; USA Network, Universo, Peacock, and NBCOlympics.com
Saturday, August 10
Bronze Medal: 5 am; USA Network, Peacock, and NBCOlympics.com
Gold medal: 3:30 pm; NBC, Peacock, and NBCOlympics.com
Bogdan Bogdanovic Leads No. 4 Serbia To Fourth Olympic Quarterfinal Appearance
Fourth-ranked Serbia is in the Olympic quarterfinals for the fourth time ever, as Atlanta Hawks guard Bogdan Bogdanovic and Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic propelled the Serbs past South Sudan 96-85. Bogdanovic scored 30 points on 10 of 14 shooting, including 6 of 9 from deep, while adding eight assists, four rebounds, two steals, and two blocks. Meanwhile, Jokic produced his second straight double-double with 22 points and 13 rebounds.
“Fantastic game, it was a spectacle. South Sudan are playing basketball from the future, in ten years this is what basketball will be played like.” Serbia head coach Svetislav Pesic said. “Their mental strength is huge, next to technical and tactical stuff, that’s equally as important. They never give up, it’s tough to break them. They don’t care who’s on the other side, they are playing their game with a lot of confidence.”
Serbia finished as runners-up in the 2016 Olympics despite a 4-4 record. The Serbs lost to the US by 30 in the gold medal game but did not qualify for the 2020 Tokoyo Olympics.
With the loss, South Sudan finishes ninth in its first Olympic appearance. While South Sudan fails to make history, Greece gets a reprieve thanks to Serbia’s win.
Greece finished third in Group A, earning their lone victory in their third game over Australia (77-71). Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo totaled 20 points on 8 of 11 shooting, seven points, and six assists. Antetokounmpo is averaging 27 points on 68.9% shooting, 7.7 boards, and 3.7 assists for the tournament.
Greece, playing in its first Olympics since 2008, has never medaled in the event.
Kevin Durant Closing In On USA Scoring Record
Durant is having a heck of an Olympic tournament. Durant, who holds the USA Basketball Olympic scoring record, made his first seven 3-pointers of the tournament. He is averaging 16.0 points and 3.3 3-pointers while shooting 63.6%/71.4%/90.7%. While he had his lowest scoring output against Puerto Rico, tallying 11 points, Durant grabbed four boards to surpass Carmelo Anthony as the leader for total rebounds by an American in the Olympics (125).
With his 11 points, Durant (483) moved within five points of Lisa Leslie’s U.S. overall scoring record of 488 points.
Saturday Game Notes
- Puerto Rico, which qualified for the Olympics through the Olympic Qualifying Tournament, finished 0-3 with a -73 scoring margin. Puerto Rico allowed a 2024 Olympic-worst 301 points, as they also surrendered 100 points to Serbia in their previous outing. This marks the first time they have allowed back-to-back 100-point games at the Olympics.
- Former G-League forward Ismael Romero (12 points, 10 rebounds) produced the first double-double by a Puerto Rico player since Daniel Santiago had 16 points and 10 rebounds against Angola in 2004.
- LeBron James is set to move in the top two or three in Olympic history for assists as he sits fourth with 110. James is just two dimes behind former Chicago Bull Toni Kukoc and 11 from tying second-place Sarunas Marciulionis. He should surpass Marciulionis unless the US gets upset in the Quarterfinals.
- Carmelo Anthony is the only player with more points in a shorter run than Edwards at the Olympics. He scored 37 points in 14 minutes against Nigeria in 2012.
- Bogdan Bogdanovic now has 1058 career points as a member of Serbia’s national team, overtaking Milos Teodosic (1057) as the all-time leader. Bogdanovic’s 30 points today is the most ever by a Serbian in Olympic history.
- Nikola Jokic is the first Serbian player to tally 20 points and 10 rebounds in an Olympic contest.
- Serbia’s 31 assists against South Sudan is the most in this year’s Olympics.
