Olympic Men's Basketball Final Four Set, Team USA to Play Australia In Semifinal

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Just four teams remain alive in the Tokyo Olympics men’s basketball knockout round after quarterfinals concluded Tuesday morning: France, Slovenia, Australia and Team USA.

The U.S. (3-1) will play Australia (4-0), while France (4-0) battles Slovenia (4-0) with a chance to advance to the gold medal game. The losers will play for the bronze medal.

Team USA overcame a 10-point first-half deficit to comfortably top Spain 95-81. The game was tied at halftime despite the U.S. shooting 4 for 17 for 3-point range. That all changed in the second half, as Kevin Durant stayed hot with 13 points in the third quarter to put Team USA up 69-63 entering the fourth. Jayson Tatum sealed the deal with 10 points in the final frame as the Americans pulled away. Ricky Rubio scored a game-high 38 points in the losing effort, while Durant dropped 29.

Australia’s quarterfinal matchup with Argentina was the most lopsided of the round, with a convincing 97-59 victory. It was just a six-point game at the half, but a dominant 37-11 fourth quarter made the matchup look worse than it was. Patty Mills scored 18 to lead the Aussies, while four other players joined him in double figures.

Slovenia also had little trouble in the quarterfinal, defeating Germany 94-70 to improve to 4-0 in Tokyo. Luka Doncic stayed hot with 20 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds. But it was Zoran Dragic, brother of Goran, leading the way with 27 points on 11 of 13 shooting. Doncic is now 17-0 while playing for the Slovenian national team.

France has cruised through its first four games in Tokyo, outscoring opponents by an average of 13.3 points per game and winning by seven or more every game. Italy kept the quarterfinal matchup close for a while, leading by five after the first quarter. The French pulled away in the third, though, outscoring Italy 21-12. Rudy Gobert scored 22 points and Evan Fournier added 21 in the win.

Team USA vs. Australia will tip on Thursday, Aug. 5, at 12:15 a.m. ET. Slovenia vs. France is set for the same day at 7 a.m. ET.

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