Patty Mills did all he could to help Australia advance to the Olympic men’s basketball semifinals, but in the end, the best basketball player in the world was too much to overcome.
Nikola Jokic, the winner of three of the last four NBA MVP awards, willed Serbia to a 95-90 win over Australia in overtime on Tuesday and punched his country’s ticket to the Olympic semifinals.
Jokic finished the game with 21 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists, while Bogdan Bogdanovic chipped in with 17 points of his own in Serbia’s win.
It was anything but a sure thing for the Serbians, as Australia sprinted out to a 31-17 lead in the first quarter.
Australia led by 24 points at one point in the second quarter, but Serbia closed the gap in the third quarter when it outscored Australia 25-11. The victory officially marked the biggest comeback in Olympic men’s basketball history.
Serbia held a two-point lead at the end of regulation until Mills hit a tough fall-away jumper with 1.4 seconds remaining to send the game to extra time.
Australia took a three-point lead in overtime thanks to a Josh Giddey three, but then Jokic took over the game. He hit one of his vintage fade-away baseline jumpers to put the Serbians up three with 25 seconds left and Serbia would hold on from there after an Australian turnover on the ensuing possession.
Mills finished with a game-high 26 points for the Aussies, while Giddey was excellent as well, finishing with 25 points, five rebounds and four assists.
UP NEXT
Serbia moves on to the semifinal for a rematch against the United States on Thursday. The high-powered Americans crushed Serbia 110-84 in both teams’ opening group stage game at this year’s Olympics.
Australia heads home.
GERMANY 76, GREECE 63
The reigning FIBA World Cup champions are two wins away from capturing an Olympic title.
Franz Wagner scored 18 points as Germany beat Greece 76-63 in the first Olympic men’s basketball quarterfinal on Tuesday.
Germany will face the winner of the Canada-France quarterfinal in Thursday’s semifinals.
Former Toronto Raptors point guard Dennis Schroder added 13 points and eight assists for the Germans, who rallied from a 10-point deficit after one quarter.
Canadian Gordon Herbert coaches Germany.
German star Dirk Nowitzki was in the stands cheering on his country.
Greece star Giannis Antetokounmpo led his team with 22 points.
UP NEXT
Germany moves on to the semifinal matchup against host France on Thursday.
Greece departs from its first men’s Olympic basketball tournament since 2008.
FRANCE 82, CANADA 73
The combination of high hopes and lofty expectations proved to be a burden too heavy for the Canadian men’s basketball team on Tuesday as it shockingly fell 82-73 to France in the quarterfinals.
It was an unheralded trio of Guerschon Yabusele, Isaia Cordinier and Mathias Lessort who led the host nation, scoring 22, 20 and 13 points respectively. Meanwhile, French phenom Victor Wembanyama was held to seven points on 2-of-10 shooting from the field.
Canada, meanwhile, was led by usual suspect Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who had 27 points on 9-of-19 (47 per cent) from the field to go with five rebounds and four assists. RJ Barrett added another 16 points, with 10 of those coming in the fourth quarter. However, the rest of the team was unable to follow it up as they finished with 30 points on 10-of-36 (27 per cent) from the field.
Jamal Murray especially struggled, as the usually sweet-scoring guard put up seven points on a brutal 3-of-13 shooting performance.
Head coach Vincent Collet made the bold decision to bench stalwarts Rudy Gobert and Evan Fournier in favour of Cordinier and Frank Ntilikina to start the game, a change that worked well right out of the gate with France building an apparently insurmountable 13-point lead heading into the first break.
They continually abused Canada’s reliance on a small-ball lineup, funnelling the ball inside and forcing a physical game, one that drew the favour of the officials in front of a roaring French crowd. They took 42 free throws, making 33, compared to Canada’s 25 with 18 made.
A 16-point deficit isn’t an easy one to make up, and to do it in the modern game of basketball, it would require a bevy of makes from three-point range. The Canadians just didn’t have that going for them, as they finished 5-for-21 from beyond the arc (24 per cent).
In the fourth, Canada did manage to get it all the way down to a five-point deficit with two minutes left. But more free throws, a bad turnover from Murray, two straight offensive rebounds and a dagger three from Fournier rebuilt France’s 10-point lead— a hill far too steep to climb.
UP NEXT
France moves on to the semifinal for a rematch against Germany on Thursday.
Canada heads home.
UNITED STATES 122, BRAZIL 87
Team USA strolled to a 122-87 win against Brazil in their men’s Olympic basketball quarterfinal matchup on Tuesday.
Despite a valiant effort by Brazil, even going on a 10-0 run that won it the third quarter 35-31, the immersive firepower of the United States proved too much. The U.S. shot 58 per cent from the field and made 15 threes on a 48 per cent clip.
Leading the charge in the 35-point victory was Devin Booker who finished with 18 points on five-of-seven made triples to go with three rebounds and three assists in 15 minutes of action. Anthony Edwards added 17 points, five rebounds and a steal.
Meanwhile, Joel Embiid, LeBron James and Kevin Durant each chipped in with 14, 12 and 11 points respectively.
There was little the Brazilians could do about the United States having a clear advantage in the athleticism department and the overwhelming physicality that came as a result of it. Team USA won the rebounding battle 46-34, forced 15 turnovers for 23 points and was a dominant plus-18 on points in the paint.
The United States led for all but 34 seconds of the contest.
Brazil’s leading performer on the day was former Toronto Raptors forward Bruno Caboclo. The 28-year-old finished with a game-high 30 points to go with six rebounds, a block and a steal. The only other double-digit scorer for Brazil on the day was Georginho De Paula who put up 15 points, eight rebounds and three assists.
UP NEXT
Team USA now gets ready for a rematch against three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic and Serbia on Thursday. The semifinal matchup comes just a few days after the U.S. picked up a dominant 110-84 win to open group play at this year’s Olympics.
Brazil heads home.