Germany guard Franz Wagner (9) reacts after scoring in the first half in a men’s group B basketball game during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at Stade Pierre-Mauroy. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports PARIS — Devin Booker scored 18 points and LeBron James flirted with a double-double as the United States defeated Brazil 122-87 on Tuesday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the men’s basketball tournament at the Paris Olympics.
Team USA will face Serbia in the semifinals after the latter beat Australia 95-90 in overtime earlier Tuesday.
Booker canned five 3-pointers for the Americans, who connected on 57.7 percent of their shots from the field and 48.4 percent of their attempts from beyond the arc. James went for 12 points, nine assists and three steals.
Anthony Edwards (17 points), Joel Embiid (14), Anthony Davis (13) and Kevin Durant (11) also scored in double figures for the United States. Davis finished with a game-high eight rebounds.
Bruno Caboclo poured in a game-high 30 points for Brazil. Georginho de Paula chipped in 15 points and eight boards.
The Brazilians shot 41.6 percent overall while canning 32.4 percent of their 3-pointers.
After failing to score for the first 4:02 of the second quarter to fall into a 40-21 hole, Brazil came to life.
Lucas Dias started and ended a 13-2 run, getting things going with a layup before later pulling the Brazilians within 42-34 with a 3-pointer with 4:11 remaining in the first half.
But an emphatic response by the United States virtually put the game away, with the Americans scoring 21 of the next 23 points to take a 63-36 lead into the break. Embiid and James each had six points during the back-breaking run, and Jayson Tatum punctuated the outburst with a dunk off a feed from James.
Team USA held a commanding 94-71 lead after three quarters, even after de Paula sank 2 of 3 free throws with one second left in the third.
Booker scored nine points and Embiid added eight to lift the Americans to a 33-21 edge after 10 minutes of action. Team USA went 13-for-21 from the field in the first quarter.
–Germany 76, Greece 63
Franz Wagner and Germany overcame a sleepy start to ease past Greece and became the first team to reach the semifinals.
Wagner led Germany with 18 points while Dennis Schroeder chipped in 13 as the World Cup winners improved their record to 4-0, securing their spot in a first-ever Olympics final four against host France.
“It means a lot (to be in semifinals for the first time). I think everybody in the team knows that we have a special group,” Wagner said. “That’s motivation enough. I was seven, I think, when Dirk (Nowitzki) played in the Olympics and I think we’ve come a long way, and that’s because of guys like him. (It is) all on us to keep that going forward.”
Two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo had a game-high 22 points in a losing cause for Greece, who had just one win in group action and squeaked into the last eight as the best third-place finisher.
The basketball tournament moved to Paris from Lille, where group play was held, for the knockout round with four quarterfinals highlighted by a showdown between medal contenders France and Canada followed by the LeBron James-led U.S. taking on Brazil.
–Serbia 95, Australia 90
Nikola Jokic proved again why he is a three-time NBA most valuable player, leading Serbia to a nail-biting overtime win over Australia and into the final four of the tournament.
It was an uphill victory from the start for Serbia, who dug themselves out of a 24-point first-half hole to reach the brink of a regulation victory only to watch Patty Mills hit a desperation fade away jumper with 1.4 seconds to play to force the extra session.
With just over a minute to go in overtime and Serbia trailing 90-89, Jokic came to his country’s rescue, scoring two clutch baskets to deliver the dagger and a 93-90 lead.
Bogdan Bogdanovic made the final two free throws to seal the victory.
Jokic finished with a team high 21 points and 14 rebounds, while Bogdanovic contributed 17 points for Serbia.
–France 82, Canada 73
France rode the home crowd and a wave of emotion to advance to the Olympic semifinals and a rematch with Germany.
Leading the way for Les Bleus was Guerschon Yabusele with 22 points while Isaia Cordinier added 20 in what was a total team effort with four players getting into double figures.
France sprinted to a 19-5 lead in the opening minutes and never trailed.
After a less than inspiring performance in the group stage that saw the Olympic hosts lose to Germany and need overtime to see off Japan, the French delivered their best effort when it mattered moving on to face Germany.
–Reuters, Special to Field Level Media
