PARIS (AP) — There are NBA champions, All-Star selections and award winners all over the men’s basketball quarterfinals at the Paris Olympics.
And if that wasn’t enough, all four matchups will have a Game 7 feel.
This is it. The most decisive day of the Olympic men’s tournament is Tuesday, where eight teams will enter, four teams will be eliminated, and the four surviving clubs will be one big step closer toward their goal of leaving France with a medal.
The quarterfinal games: the four-time defending gold medalist U.S. vs. Brazil; Canada vs. France in a showdown of pre-tournament medal favorites; reigning World Cup champion Germany vs. Greece; and Serbia vs. Australia.
Every game features at least one NBA champion, one MVP winner or finalist and at least one perennial All-Star (or in the U.S. case, about 10 perennial All-Stars).
“The guys, I think, are well prepared for it,” U.S. coach Steve Kerr said. “They’ve done a great job of not only preparing on the floor but adapting to these weird circumstances of having 12 starters in the NBA adjust to being a 12-man team here and some guys playing certain nights, not playing other nights. They’ve all really committed to the goal. And the goal is within sight now.”
There are 15 current or former All-Stars still in the Olympic field with a combined 97 selections among them; most are from the U.S., along with Greece’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, Serbia’s Nikola Jokic, France’s Rudy Gobert and Canada’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
“It’s a lot of great teams,” said U.S. forward LeBron James, the 20-time All-Star seeking his fourth Olympic medal and third gold.
A lot of great players, too. For some, getting to this stage is the norm: Australia’s Patty Mills is about to play in his fifth Olympic quarterfinal, and teammate Joe Ingles is here for the fifth time as well. For the U.S., a pair of standouts — James and Kevin Durant — are in the quarters for the fourth time.
For others, this is new territory. Antetokounmpo has never made it this far at an Olympics.
“It’s incredible,” Antetokounmpo said. “I’m happy that I’m here, I don’t take it for granted. I will enjoy it to the fullest because you never know if you’re going to have this opportunity again.”
Also still in the mix: France’s Victor Wembanyama, the NBA rookie of the year whose time as an All-Star and MVP candidate likely starts soon, like this coming season soon. Put simply, the basketball medal hopes of his homeland rest on his shoulders.
“If we want to win it all, we’re going to have to win against everybody eventually,” Wembanyama said.
The U.S., Germany and Canada are the three unbeaten teams left. None of that will matter Tuesday; should any of the medal favorites lose, they’re out. It’s win-or-go-home time in Paris. Semifinal losers on Thursday at least have a chance to play Saturday for the bronze medal. But Tuesday is the day that should be loaded with drama, given the stakes of the quarterfinals.
“Most important game of the tournament,” Serbia’s Bogdan Bogdanovic said. “When you win the quarterfinals, you have a chance to fight for the medal. That’s why we are here.”
The tougher side of the draw figures to be the one where the Canada-France winner meets the Germany-Greece winner in the semifinals. The other semifinal on Thursday will have the U.S.-Brazil winner taking on either Serbia or Australia.
For Canada, it’s just more of the same. The Canadians went 3-0 in a group featuring France, Greece and Spain, the so-called “group of death” at the Paris Games because of the quality of the four teams.
“We’ve played with Game 7 mentality because we played in the toughest pool in the Olympics,” Canada coach Jordi Fernandez said. “Even though it was not truly a Game 7, because once you play Game 1 you still had two more to go. We also knew that these teams are so good that we cannot relax.”
Paris is hosting the knockout phase after the group stage was held near the northern city of Lille.
What the odds say
The U.S. is a 26.5-point favorite over Brazil, according to BetMGM Sportsbook, which also lists Canada, Germany and Serbia all as 7.5-point favorites for Tuesday.
The U.S. remains a massive favorite (minus-650) to win the gold, followed by Canada and Germany (both plus-900) and Serbia (plus-2,000).
Medal history
The U.S. has won 19 medals (16 gold, one silver, two bronze) in its 19 Olympic appearances.
The most recent medals for other teams in the men’s quarterfinals:
— France: silver, 2020 (Olympics held in 2021)
— Australia: bronze, 2020 (Olympics held in 2021)
— Serbia: silver, 2016
— Brazil: bronze, 1964
— Canada: silver, 1936
— Germany: never won an Olympic medal
— Greece: never won an Olympic medal
Stat leaders
(Among the players left in the tournament.)
— Points: Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece) 27.0, Franz Wagner (Germany) 21.7, RJ Barrett (Canada) 21.0, Dennis Schroder (Germany) 19.7, Bogdan Bogdanovic (Serbia) 19.0, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Canada) 19.0.
— Rebounds: Nikola Jokic (Serbia) 11.0, Victor Wembanyama (France) 10.7, Jock Landale (Australia) 9.7, Josh Giddey (Australia) 8.7, Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece) 7.7.
— Assists: Dennis Schroder (Germany) 9.0, Nick Calathes (Greece) 7.3, LeBron James (USA) 7.3, Nikola Jokic (Serbia) 7.0, Josh Giddey (Australia) 6.7.
Standings
Places 5-8 will be determined Tuesday after the quarterfinal games. Places 9-12 were done after the group stage; officially, South Sudan finished ninth, Spain 10th, Japan 11th and Puerto Rico 12th.
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