With all four of the Olympic quarterfinal games completed on Tuesday, four teams are advancing to the semifinal round. The two semifinal games take place on Thursday and will remain single elimination.
Germany and France open the semifinal round with a game at 11:30 a.m. ET while Team USA and Serbia play each other at 3 p.m.. The winner of each game will play for the gold on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET while the loser of each game will play for bronze at 5 a.m. ET on the same day.
Team USA got to the semifinal round by defeating Brazil by way of a 35-point blowout. Six players for the U.S. scored in double figures, with Devin Booker leading with 18 points.
As we noted, the United States did well to earn the top seed. Because of their positioning, they avoided any potential matchups with two of the stronger teams in the entire event in France or Germany, who now play each other.
Serbia escaped a close overtime game against Australia with a five-point victory. Despite getting out to an early lead, Serbia came back behind Nikola Jokic‘s 21 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists. Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 17 points while Vasilije Micic recorded 14 points and six assists off the bench.
This will be the third matchup between the U.S. and Serbia this summer, with the Americans winning both games (one exhibition and one group stage game). Germany defeated France in the group stage.
Although guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 27 points, Canada fell to France 82-73. With Rudy Gobert dealing with injury, France was led by former NBAer Guerschon Yabusele in scoring (22 points). Isaia Cordinier, the 44th pick in the 2016 draft, finished with 20 points while free-agent guard Evan Fournier scored 15.
Franz Wagner continued his strong summer in the quarterfinals against Greece, scoring a team-high 18 points. Dennis Schroder recorded 13 points and eight assists as Germany moved past Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s team.