The U.S. will play against Brazil in the quarterfinals of the Olympic men’s basketball tournament in Paris on Tuesday. If the U.S. wins, they will face either Serbia or Australia in the semifinals.
The earliest the U.S. could play Germany, Canada, or France is in the final.
On Tuesday, other quarterfinal games include: Victor Wembanyama and France versus Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Canada, reigning World Cup champion Germany against Giannis Antetokounmpo and Greece, and defending Olympic bronze medalist Australia facing Nikola Jokic and Serbia.
Teams that lose on Tuesday are out, while the winners will play in the semifinals on Thursday. The U.S.-Brazil winner will play against the Serbia-Australia winner, and the Germany-Greece winner will face the France-Canada winner.
The gold and bronze medal games are set for next Saturday, the second-to-last day of the Paris Games. Puerto Rico, Spain, South Sudan, and Japan were eliminated after the group stage.
The U.S. (3-0) secured the No. 1 overall seed and the easiest possible quarterfinal matchup on Saturday with a 104-83 win over Puerto Rico.
“They’re all excellent teams, well-coached,” U.S. coach Steve Kerr said about the quarterfinalists. “But Brazil is our focus.”
Germany (3-0) is the No. 2 seed, finishing behind the U.S. because of the point-differential tiebreaker. The Americans outscored their three group-stage opponents by 67 points, while Germany outscored theirs by 47 points.
Canada (3-0) is the No. 3 seed, coming in behind the U.S. and Germany due to a plus-20 differential in group play.
“You hope you get a little bit easier team (in the quarterfinals),” Germany coach Gordie Herbert said about finishing with a high seed from group play, “but I think you really don’t because every team here is really good.”
The main game on Tuesday is likely to be France against Canada. France lost its final group game to Germany on Friday night, which put them in a much tougher position than they would have been otherwise.
Now, France needs to beat the unbeaten Canada team to have a chance at winning a medal in Paris, which would be a huge disappointment if they don’t succeed.
“I think we’ve all got the good will, the good energy,” Wembanyama said. “But now I think we’ve got to trust the coaching more, just trust our teammates more and do the little things that don’t show up on the stat sheets — setting screens, boxing out, all that.”
France coach Vincent Collet believes his team can benefit from Canada’s higher seeding. “Now, it’s even. We will be 0-0 on Tuesday,” Collet said. “They have more to lose than us in this position.”
It’s also a tough situation for Canada: They are up against the home team and Wembanyama, with a chance to advance at stake. Canada hasn’t won a medal at the Olympics since they took silver in 1936, losing 19-8 to the U.S. in a rainstorm on an outdoor court.
“We played a lot of really good teams, and we beat them all,” Canada guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said. “There are some things we can clean up for sure, but we’ll take it.”
