Paris Olympics 2024: Germany Triumphs Over France; Greece, Brazil, and Canada Secure Knockout Spots

In men’s Olympic basketball, Germany defeated France 85-71 on Friday in a contest between two of the leading candidates for the gold medal. The tournament will move to Paris for the quarterfinals. Dennis Schroder and Franz Wagner each scored 26 points.

Germany finished first in Group B without a loss because to Daniel Theis’ seven points and eight rebounds. It was France’s first group stage defeat.

With Wagner on the inside and Schroder’s outside shooting and ability to penetrate France’s defense, the host nation trailed by 21 points at the half and was led by Victor Wembanyama with 14 points and 12 rebounds.

In the second quarter, Germany scored 24 points to 9 for France. In the first twenty minutes, France committed eight mistakes.

Wembanyama was seated to begin the fourth, and France at last gained momentum, reducing the lead to twelve. With 4:30 remaining, Wembanyama rejoined the match, but Germany’s lead had already risen to 19.

Greece maintained its hopes of moving on to the next week’s knockout phase thanks to a 20-point performance from Giannis Antetokounmpo and seven rebounds. For Greece, Thomas Walkup tallied 18 points. With 17 points, Jock Landale topped Australia.

Antetokounmpo stated, “We didn’t want to leave this tournament without getting a win.” “We thought our team was excellent, therefore we were disappointed not to win. We also engaged in competition. For all three games, we battle. And I believe that we have had to battle to the very finish of this game.

Each of the three groups’ top two teams go directly to the quarterfinals. The top three-place teams in group play earn the last two slots in the following round.

Greece started the day 0–2 in Group A play, needing to upset the Boomers by 10 points or more and Canada to triumph over Spain in order to guarantee their place in the next week’s Paris knockout round.

Greece finished in third position in the group, but they are not certain to advance after their six-point victory and Canada’s victory over Spain. Along with the United States in Group C and France, Germany, Brazil, and Australia in Group B, Canada and Australia are leaving Group A. What happens on Saturday in Serbia and South Sudan’s Group C encounter will decide the final two slots.

With less than three minutes left, Australia pulled ahead 71-69 thanks to a pull-up jumper from Patty Mills. Antetokounmpo was called for an offensive foul by Mills, but Australia turned the ball over on their subsequent possession.

Antetokounmpo found Vasilis Toliopoulos, who knocked down a 3-pointer to put Greece back up by five. The margin extended to 77-70 on a 3 by Walkup with 1:04 left.

After making a strange slip on the court in the second quarter, Australian Dyson Daniels had to go to the locker room for treatment. Late in the term, nevertheless, he managed to make a return.

In the closing seconds, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 20 points and made two free throws to help Canada defeat Spain and win Group A. Nembhard Andrew contributed eighteen points. Canada now has to wait to find out which side it will play next week in the knockout stage.

Spain, led by Dario Brizuela with 17 points, was eliminated due to Greece’s victory against Australia and a 1-2 result in group play. Spain, which last won an Olympic medal in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro with a bronze, is eliminated early.

Sergio Llull scored 13 points in the end. Before Spain trimmed the lead to three early in the fourth quarter, Canada had a 14-point lead in the third quarter. The remainder of the way, it remained tight.

With less than a minute remaining, Alex Abrines was fouled and went to the free-throw line, trailing Spain 82-79. He tried twice, but only succeeded in one of them. After Canada recovered, RJ Barrett scored a corner three to tie the score at 85–80.

A driving layup by Jaime Pradilla gave Spain an early lead, and Gilgeous-Alexander was fouled. With 3.1 seconds remaining, he converted one free throw and Llull sank a three-pointer to make the score 86-85. After being fouled once more, Gilgeous-Alexander advanced to the free-throw line.

Brazil won thanks to 33 points and 17 rebounds from Bruno Caboclo. Not only that, but Brazil’s superior point differential over Greece guarantees them a spot in the quarterfinals as one of the top two third-place finishers. After France and Germany in Group B, Brazil’s Vitor Benite finished with 19 points.

Also Read: Paris Olympics 2024: Team USA Secures Victory Over South Sudan, Serbia Dominates Puerto Rico

Caboclo was hindered by foul play in Brazil’s earlier defeats by Germany and France. He played 12 minutes against Germany and finished with just six points before fouling out. He went scoreless against France. This time, he remained on the court and made himself known.

The 28-year-old Caboclo, who spent seven NBA seasons with Toronto, Sacramento, Memphis, and Houston between 2014 and 2021, declared, “This is the biggest stage of basketball.” “I believe the foreign team to be larger than the NBA. The largest event in the globe is the Olympics. Every athlete wants to be here at least one time. We succeeded in doing it. We’re hoping to go to the quarterfinals.

Caboclo was unaware at the time, but Brazil is truly progressing.
Leading Japan with 26 points and 10 rebounds was Josh Hawkinson. Yuki Kawamura ended with ten assists and twenty-one points.

Japan did not field their leading scorer, Rui Hachimura. Prior to the match, the Japanese basketball federation announced that Hachimura had left France due to a left calf injury he had suffered during their overtime loss to France.

In pool play, Japan lost all three of its games and was
eliminated. Throughout, Hawkinson and Caboclo traded buckets in a duel of the big guys.

15 of Brazil’s first 31 points came from Caboclo, who also helped the team take a 16-point lead into the third quarter. However, Japan recovered and went into the fourth with a 77-73 lead. Brazil went on a 22-4 run to end the game.