France pulls off Olympic coup Dream Team dismantles Brazil with magical show
07.08.2024, 05:57
The NBA stars continue to march effortlessly through the tournament at the Olympic Games. Against Brazil, everything is already clear at halftime. Kevin Durant breaks a very special record. Meanwhile, the French cause a big surprise.
The USA basketball team has easily made it to the quarterfinals of the Olympic Games. The favorites easily beat Brazil in Paris with 122:87 (63:36) and were never seriously challenged. The stars played magical basketball at times. Shortly before halftime, LeBron James set the scene with an alley-oop pass after a throw-in. Again and again there was a crash or the ball circulated so long and so quickly that it was dizzying to watch.
Kevin Durant cracked the 100-point mark just eight minutes before the end. The 35-year-old from the Phoenix Suns is now the best US shooter in the history of the Olympic Games. Before the Paris Games, Durant took part in the Olympics in 2012, 2016 and 2021.
The best scorer in coach Steve Kerr’s team was Devin Booker with 18 points. In the semifinals on Thursday, the NBA stars including LeBron James and Durant will face Serbia with superstar Nikola Jokić, who defeated Australia 95:90 after extra time and a lot of effort. In the second semifinal, Germany and France will play against each other. After the world champions had prevailed against Greece 76:63 in the first quarterfinal, France surprisingly won against Canada, which was packed with NBA stars, 82:73.
Although child prodigy Victor Wembanyama had a bad day with only seven points, the French, who have been disappointing so far in this tournament, made their second meeting with Germany perfect. Thanks to strong performances from Guerschon Yabusele (22) and Isaia Cordinier (20), it was enough for the surprise. In the final minutes, the fans were already singing the national anthem loudly. Despite the star-studded US team, including LeBron James, Wembanyama has declared gold as the goal for the hosts.
In the preliminary round in Lille, the German team had outclassed the French 85:71. “I expect a much closer game than last time,” said German national coach Gordon Herbert. The two nations had already met twice in preparation for the Olympics, with each side winning once. “It will be the fourth time in the last four weeks that we have played against each other,” added Herbert: “So we know each other very well.”
