As the Olympics 2024 come to a close, several events are now on their final leg, with the battle for podium spots ramping up as the days go by.
In men’s basketball, the semi-final spots have now been set, and the brackets couldn’t be more exciting. Host nation France will want to exact revenge against World Cup champions Germany after getting blown out in their group-stage meeting.
Meanwhile, Team USA squares off with the Nikola Jokic-led Serbia in what would be another group-stage rematch from last week.
But how did they get there? Allow us here at SBOTOP to keep you up to speed.
Serbia’s comeback kings
In their quarter-final meeting with Serbia yesterday, Patty Mills and Josh Giddey led the charge at the start as the Boomers were hotter than the sun en route to a 22-46 lead sometime in the second quarter. At that moment, it would be fairly easy to determine who would win the contest, with the Olympics 2024 odds heavily favouring the Australians to finish the job off.
But Serbia have Nikola Jokic. Arguably the world’s best player.
Australia’s 24-point lead vanished in the blink of an eye, as Serbia took a 61-60 lead halfway through the third quarter, outscoring the Boomers 39-14. From then on, the two squads went back and forth.
Serbia held a two-point lead going into the fourth. With three minutes left in regulation, the game was tied at 78-78 when Giddey fouled Serbia’s Vasilije Micic on the three-point line. Micic then sank all three free-throw shots.
The next basket from either team came with a minute and 44 seconds left after Giddey scored a jumpshot. And then with nine seconds remaining, Micic was once again fouled, but this time, the veteran guard missed the first shot, which gave the Boomers an extra lifeline.
Coming out of a time-out, Australia needed a savior. And who better to save them than their best player, Patty Mills? ‘Mano a mano’ with Jokic, Mills found a little space where he could get his shot off—for a player of his calibre, a small window of opportunity is all that’s needed.
But despite their valiant effort, Serbia were just too much in overtime, as they closed Australia out 95-90.
Jokic was in his usual monstrous form, as he finished with 21 points, 14 rebounds and eight asissts. Fellow NBA cager Bogdan Bogdanovic added 17 points and six assists of his own, whilst four others chipped in with double digits as well.
For Australia, Mills and Giddey had 26 points and 25 points, respectively. Although Mills was only able to score six points in the second half.
Serbia’s display deserved a reward. And what do they get? Oh, just the Americans, who beat them by 26 points in the group stages and Brazil by 35 to advance to the semi-final.
That’s a nice reward for their efforts, right?
France send Canada packing
Too bad their game went sour at the wrong time, succumbing to France 82-73 in the quarter-final.
NBA veterans Jamal Murray and Dillon Brooks combined for an abysmal 4-22 shooting from the field, whilst Kelly Olynk, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Dwight Powell and Andrew Nembhard scored a grand total of six points between them.
For France, it was a total team effort on display.
In fact, the twin towers of Rudy Gobert and Victor Wembanyama only scored seven points and added 13 boards—the former only played for three minutes because of an apparent injury, as reported in the Olympics 2024 news.
It was former NBA player Guerschon Yabusele who led the way for Les Bleus, finishing with 22 points and five rebounds. Isaia Cordinier added 20 points and four three-pointers of his own.
Evan Fournier and Mathias Lessort also chipped in 15 and 13 markers, respectively.
France seemingly woke up on the right side of the bed—whilst Canada woke up on the other—as they immediately jumped to a 23-10 lead in the first quarter. At one point, France even led by 19 points.
To add insult to injury, the whistle was heavily blown in favour of the hosts—they shot 42 free-throws to Canada’s 25—and if you add to that the shooting slumps of Canada’s best players, then you have the perfect recipe for disaster.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (27 points) and RJ Barrett (16 points) fought tooth and nail to cut the lead back, which at one point went down to five points. But Lady Luck was seemingly feeling French that night, and plenty of breaks went the host nation’s way.
The semi-final games start tomorrow, with France vs Germany first, followed by Serbia vs the United States.
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