The Americans had no trouble with Brazil on Tuesday
The USA men's basketball team had no trouble with Brazil in the quarterfinals of the 2024 Paris Olympics on Tuesday. The Americans trounced Brazil, 122-87, to advance to the semifinals, where they will face Serbia on Thursday. Every single Team USA player scored in the 35-point win to start the knockout stage, and Devin Booker had a team-high 18 points.
LeBron James had 12 points and was one assist shy of a triple-double with nine helpers. Eight of those came in the first half, including this out-of-bounds alley-oop to Jayson Tatum.
Joel Embiid hit all three of his 3-point attempts and added 14 points and seven rebounds. The Americans shot 57.7% from the field and hit 15 3-pointers. Brazil got a game-high 30 points from Bruno Caboclo, but saw the Americans go on a 15-0 run ahead of halftime that put the game away.
Kevin Durant, meanwhile, made history. The Suns superstar finished with 11 points, and, with a third-quarter bucket, he passed Lisa Leslie as the highest-scoring player in Team USA basketball history at the Olympics (men's or women's). Leslie previously held the record with 488 points.
Team USA has never lost in the quarterfinal round at the Olympics, and the squad is now two wins away from its fifth consecutive gold medal. Germany and France round out the final four in the men's basketball tournament at the Paris Games.
Here are three takeaways from Team USA's blowout win.
Joel Embiid finally gets going
Embiid and Stephen Curry were the two most disappointing American players during the group stage. Embiid had just four points and looked totally out of sync in the opener against Serbia. He didn't play at all against South Sudan. He did record 15 points on 14 shots in a meaningless game against Puerto Rico, but his showing against Brazil was the first real glimpse at what the Americans hoped he would bring to the team.
Embiid led the U.S. with 14 first-half points to go with seven rebounds, and he looked a bit more spry on some defensive contests. He got himself going early with a pair of 3-pointers (he hit three of them in total). The Americans are not playing much offense through Embiid, as they shouldn't given their emphasis on transition scoring, array of weapons and need to keep half-court flow going, so it's important that he, like Curry, take advantage of the scoring opportunities he does get.
Defense and Efficiency
Every time the Americans have been pushed in this tournament they have answered the bell by clamping down on defense and getting out in transition to extend their leads. They did it again against Brazil, which, for a brief moment, had the deficit down to eight after a 13-2 late-second-quarter run. The U.S. then ended the half with a 15-0 spurt of its own to go into the locker room up 27.
In addition to the defense, the U.S. continues to score with great efficiency, posting 58-48-89 shooting splits in the win over Brazil. They shot 62% including 56% from 3 in the opening group-stage win over Serbia, then followed that up by going 53% from the floor and 43% from 3 against South Sudan -- and that was with Stephen Curry going 1 for 9 while combining with LeBron James to miss nine 3-pointers. Everyone else made pretty much everything.
The Americans shot under 50% against Puerto Rico and 28% from 3. That's the kind of game somebody probably needs from the U.S. to catch the Americans on the right night for an upset. Of course, they still put up 104 points against Puerto Rico, but the opponents from here on out are much better and can definitely put a scare into the U.S. if they have an off night. But if they don't, and they keep defending and shooting with the efficiency they've largely achieved to this point, good luck.
Durant becomes top USA Basketball Olympic scorer
Durant, who is aiming to be the first player in American men's basketball history to win four gold medals, became the all-time leading U.S. scorer, both men's and women's, in Olympic competition, passing Lisa Leslie with a bucket at the 3:06 mark of the third quarter.
Durant, who came out of the Olympic gate on fire with 23 points on 8-of-9 shooting against Serbia after missing all of the exhibition schedule with a calf injury, finished with 11 points against Brazil and now has 494 career Olympic points heading into the semifinal matchup with Serbia.
