The United States men’s basketball squad appears to be steamrolling toward its fifth straight Olympic gold medal. Team USA (4-0) manhandled Brazil 122-87 in the final Olympic quarterfinal game to reach the semifinals for the 21st time. The US led for 38 minutes and 40 seconds in the game.
The 122 points are by far the most scored in this year’s Olympics, topping the US’s 110 points in their victory over Serbia in the first game of the tourney. It is also the most in an Olympic game since 2012. The 35-point differential is also the largest in this year’s Games.
USA Set For Rematch Against Serbia, Kevin Durant Sets USA Basketball Record, And Wemby Tops Olympic List
The victory was also Team USA’s most complete team effort of the Paris Olympics. All 12 US players played and scored, with Tyrese Haliburton being the only player to play fewer than 15 minutes, being the lone American not to reach five points.
Devin Booker became the fourth player to lead the Red, White, and Blue in scoring at the Olympics. He turned in his best performance of the Games with 18 points on 6 of 9 shooting. Anthony Edwards, who poured in 26 points against Puerto Rico the last time out, contributed 17 points, while four others reached double-digits.
Kevin Durant was one of the six US players to reach double figures and surpassed Lisa Leslie as the greatest scorer in U.S. Olympic basketball history. Heading into the game, Durant needed six points to surpass Leslie’s mark, and he now has 495 career points. Durant, who is two wins away from becoming the most decorated US basketball Olympian with four golds, averages 14.8 points on 60% shooting from the field and 62.5% from deep (10 of 16). Durant needed just 26 games to break the scoring mark, while Leslie appeared in 32 contests.
“Records are meant to be broken, so somebody will come along and do the same,” said Durant.“Focused on trying to win this gold.”
Serbia Up Next For USA
The US, which didn’t attend the 1980 Moscow Olympics, is 13-o all-time in Olympic quarterfinals and has never finished worse than fourth in the tournament. Team USA will now face Serbia, a team that they beat twice this summer, including once in group play. Both games were blowouts as the Americans picked up a 105-79 exhibition win over Serbia as part of their tuneup games.
“It’s a challenge,” coach Steve Kerr said about Serbia. Serbia is really good, and we can’t get lulled to sleep because we beat them twice. We have to be prepared for their best effort, we have to think about what are they gonna do differently, [Nikola] Jokic – does he play 40 minutes? What else could they have up their sleeve? Or do they just play their game and give it another crack. But every game is so different and unique.”
The US and Serbia also faced each other in the Finals of the 2016 Olympics and the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2014. The US came out victorious in both of those games. The US is 4-0 all-time in the Olympics against Serbia/Yugoslavia.
USA Notes
- The US totaled 31 assists against Brazil, with LeBron James leading the way with nine helpers, giving him 119 dimes for his Olympic career. It marked the first time that a USA Olympic squad has reached 30 assists in back-to-back games since 1992, when they doled out 30 assists against Puerto Rico.
- James needs three assists against Serbia to move past Hall of Famer Sarunas Marciulonas, who is second in that category (121) on the all-time Olympic list. He is also three steals shy of becoming the top thief in Olympic history. Former Utah Jazz forward Andrei Kirilinko holds the record with 43 steals.
- The US improved to 11-0 all-time against Brazil in Olympic history.
- James has won 25 games at the Olympics, and Durant has won 24, the fourth and sixth most among all individuals.
- The US became the first team to have six players in double figures in an Olympic elimination game since the Americans’ 2008 squad did so against Argentina.
Other Notes
Bruno Caboclo, who appeared in 105 career NBA games over seven seasons, led Brazil with 30 points and six rebounds. Caboclo became the first player to score 30+ in back-to-back games at the Olympics since Oscar Schmidt and Jose Ortiz did so in 1996.
Germany (4-0), which has won 13 straight international games, is in the Olympic semifinals for the first time and will face France. The Germans, the first team to win a knockout round game at the Olympics after being down by 10 points at the end of the first quarter, held Greece to 41 points (63 points overall) over the last three quarters after trailing 21-11 after the first 10 minutes.
Serbia reached the Olympic semis for the third time ever despite being down 24 points in the first half and 12 at halftime to Australia. The Serbs defeated Australia 95-90 in overtime, marking just the second time in Olympic history that an elimination game went into an extra period — Chile vs. France in 1948 was the only previous occurrence.
Serbia is the first Olympic team to win an elimination game after being down by 12 or more points at halftime.
Nikola Jokic just missed a triple-double, finishing with 21 points, 14 rebounds, and nine assists, but became the first player with 20+ points, 10+ rebounds, and 5+ assists in a single game at the Olympics since 1996.
Patty Mills scored 26 points against Serbia, giving the Australian guard 14 games of 20+ points, the second most of all Olympic players in the 21st century, trailing only Pau Gasol (14). Mills’ Olympic career is likely over as he will be 36 in a few days.
France, ranked No. 9 in the World, shockingly upset Canada, No.7 in the world rankings, 82-73 to reach the Olympic semifinals for the second consecutive time. Meanwhile, the loss ensured that Canada’s Olympic medalist streak would continue. The Canadians have just one Olympic basketball medal, which was back in 1936.
France is the first host country to reach the Olympic semifinals since Australia accomplished the feat in 2000. The United States is the only host country to win gold (1984 and 1996).
Victor Wembanyama leads the 2024 Olympics with 11 steals and is second on the rebound ledger (44), three behind Jokic.
