Final score: Team USA 104, Puerto Rico 83
Team USA beat Puerto Rico 104-83 behind 26 points from Anthony Edwards on Saturday to finish 3-0 in pool play and secure the No. 1 overall seed for the Olympic quarterfinals.
The U.S. emerged from pool play No. 1 overall due to a 64-plus point differential over the three games and will play Brazil in an Olympic quarterfinal Tuesday at Accor Arena — where the NBA typically plays when it has games in Paris.
Here are the quarterfinal matchups:
- USA (top seed) vs. Brazil
- Germany (seeded) vs. Greece
- Canada vs. France
- Serbia vs. Australia
Luol Deng slams officiating in South Sudan’s loss to Serbia: ‘We couldn’t be as aggressive’
VILLENEUVE-D’ASCQ, France — Luol Deng, former NBA player and architect of the South Sudan men’s basketball program that reached its first Olympics this summer, accused officials of bias against his players and called for more African representation among referees after his team’s historic run came to an end with a 96-85 loss to Serbia on Saturday night.
Deng, who is the president of the South Sudan Basketball Federation and an assistant coach for the team, highlighted the free-throw disparity between the two teams (31-6) and made it clear he believed there were underlying reasons for the massive gap.
“I’ve been a part of a lot of games my whole career, and coaching for the last two and a half years (and) I thought it was deliberate — blatantly,” Deng, who has funded the program out of his own pocket for years now, said to a group of reporters in the media mixed zone afterward. “We couldn’t be as aggressive as they are. I know that Serbia is known for basketball. They’ve been great for many years. The way (they play), it’s almost like the refs know them. So it’s okay for the refs, if they know certain players, to let them play their style?
“As soon as our guys play their style, we’re getting (called for fouls) every time. It’s almost like there’s a narrative, and a stigma, that’s out there that these African players are aggressive. And as soon as they’re just as aggressive, (the calls) aren’t there.”
Read more here.
Advertisem*nt
The bracket for the quarterfinals and beyond in the men's Olympic basketball tournament is set.
On one side of the draw, the top-seeded United States will play Brazil (3:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday), while Serbia will play Australia (8:30 a.m. ET). The winner of those two games will play each other to go to the gold medal game. On the other, it is Germany versus Greece (5 a.m. ET) and Canada versus France (noon ET).
USA should smoke Brazil in the quarterfinals.. The big question we'll find out the answer to soon is whether Canada ends up in their half of the draw for the semifinals or if they get the easier Australia-Serbia pathway.
Serbia eliminates South Sudan with 96-85 victory
The Olympic men's basketball tournament quarterfinals are now set after Serbia defeated South Sudan 96-85 in the final game of pool play. Bogdan Bogdanović led Serbia with 28 points as it held off a spirited South Sudan effort to secure a spot in the quarterfinals.
South Sudan is eliminated; it needed a win or a loss by two or fewer points to advance. Still, the Bright Stars players, as well as federation president Luol Deng, leave France with their heads held high after beating Puerto Rico and putting a scare into Team USA and Serbia. In the end, though, Greece and Brazil advance as the third-place teams with the best two point differentials.
These will be the quarterfinal matchups.
USA (top seed) vs. Brazil
Serbia vs. Australia
Canada vs. France
Germany (second seed) vs. Greece
The only thing left to determine is which side of the draw the middle two are on.
Serbia's win means Giannis Antetokounmpo and Greece advance in the Olympic men’s basketball tournament. They will play Germany in the quarterfinals.
With Serbia's win over South Sudan, Canada will play France in the quarterfinals of the Olympic men's basketball tournament.
Advertisem*nt
Carlik Jones misses a last-ditch 3 and that should do it. Serbia is up nine with 11.4 seconds left, and South Sudan is on the verge of being eliminated. Greece will advance to the knockout stage and face Germany.
There is still a flicker of hope for South Sudan after it hit two straight 3s to cut Serbia's lead to 11 with 1:51 left. Remember: South Sudan advances with a win or by losing this game by two points or less.
To his credit, Vasilije Micic coming up big in this fourth. 13-0 run for Serbia. The dream might be ending for South Sudan here.
South Sudan may finally be running out of gas. Serbia now leads by 13, and Nikola Jokić just stuffed South Sudan's Majok Deng at the rim.
Wow, what a costly turnover by South Sudan's Carlik Jones in the backcourt. It leads to a Marko Guderić steal and Filip Petrusev bucket to put Serbia up 83-74 with 5:45 left in the fourth quarter.
Reminder: South Sudan must win or lose by two points or less to advance to the knockout round, so it must outscore Serbia by seven points in this closing stretch to make history.
Advertisem*nt
A tough-as-nails 3 by Bogdan Bogdanović off an offensive rebound puts Serbia up 78-71 on South Sudan. Bogdanović has 28.
And now Nikola Jokić is readying to check back in.
Can South Sudan rally one more time?
We have a developing situation. A Peter Jok lob to a Wenyen Gabriel slam has cut Serbia's lead over South Sudan to 72-71 early in the fourth quarter. The crowd is definitely on the Bright Stars' side.
Carlik Jones' spinning righty hook shot off the glass at the buzzer cuts South Sudan's deficit against Serbia to 72-67 after three quarters.
South Sudan must now win the fourth quarter by three or more points to become the first African team to ever advance to the knockout round of the Olympics men's basketball tournament.
South Sudan's hopes are still alive
At halftime, Serbia leads South Sudan 47-44 in an entertaining and crucial final game of pool play. Many expected a Serbia rout, but South Sudan continues to impress in its first Olympic tournament and still has a chance to pull the upset and become the first men's African team to advance to the knockout round in an Olympic basketball tournament.
Serbian stars Nikola Jokić and Bogdan Bogdanović have combined for 26 of Serbia’s points, but South Sudan is hanging tough with a balanced scoring effort.
To advance, South Sudan must win OR lose by two points or less. Serbia is through unless it loses by more than 23 points, but a loss forces a difficult quarterfinal matchup against undefeated Germany.
If South Sudan wins by less than 23 points or loses by two or fewer points, Greece is eliminated. If Serbia wins by three or more points, South Sudan is out and Greece faces Germany in the quarterfinals. Serbia would play Australia in that scenario, while Canada will face France. Team USA is already guaranteed to face Brazil in the quarterfinals regardless of this game's result.
Joel Embiid on why he chose Team USA: 'These guys wanted me'
VILLENEUVE-D’ASCQ, France — Joel Embiid, under constant heckling from the largely French crowd at the Paris Olympics for choosing to play for Team USA instead of Les Bleus, said he picked the Americans because "these guys wanted me."
"It was a tough decision, but it is all about comfort level, and like I said, I've known these guys (Team USA players) for a long time and I just felt more comfortable than on the other side (France)," Embiid said Saturday after Team USA finished off pool play at the Olympics with a 104-83 win over Puerto Rico in which there were a lot more boos cast in Embiid’s direction.
"There was some concern with the other side," Embiid said. "Comfort level was huge. I always say I'm going to be where I'm wanted and these guys wanted me."
Read more below.
Advertisem*nt
One more pool play game: Serbia vs. South Sudan
The final game of men's basketball pool play is between Serbia and South Sudan, both 1-1 in Group C. It tips off at 3 p.m.
With Team USA clinching the top seed after defeating Puerto Rico, here are the quarterfinal scenarios:
If Serbia wins by more than two points, as expected:
- USA (top seed) vs. Brazil
- Germany (seeded) vs. Greece
- Canada vs. France
- Serbia vs. Australia
If Serbia wins by exactly one point (or by two, assuming South Sudan scores more than 57 points):
- USA (top seed) vs. Brazil
- Germany (seeded) vs. South Sudan
- Canada vs. France
- Serbia vs. Australia
If South Sudan wins by eight or fewer points:
- USA (top seed) vs. Brazil
- Germany (seeded) vs. Serbia
- Canada vs. South Sudan
- France vs. Australia
If South Sudan wins by between 9-23 points:
- USA (top seed) vs. Brazil
- Germany (seeded) vs. Serbia
- Canada vs. France
- South Sudan vs. Australia
If South Sudan wins by 23 or more points:
- USA (top seed) vs. Brazil
- Germany (seeded) vs. Greece
- Canada vs. France
- South Sudan vs. Australia
USA-Puerto Rico top performers
Anthony Edwards, Team USA’s youngest player at age 22, came off the bench to shoot 11 of 15 with three rebounds, three assists and two steals. His coolest play was a tap-away steal and windmill slam with about nine minutes left and the Americans up by 25.
LeBron James, as usual for this tournament, handed in a complete performance with 10 points, eight assists and six rebounds in just 18 minutes. Kevin Durant scored 11 points and needs four more to jump Lisa Leslie (488 career points) as USA Basketball’s all-time leading scorer at the Olympics for both the men’s and women’s programs.
Joel Embiid returned to the U.S. starting lineup after sitting out against South Sudan. He scored 15 points with three boards in nearly 23 minutes, and in a confounding twist, the French crowd continued to boo him each time he touched the ball but erupted in applause when he scored or blocked a shot. Go figure.
Jose Alvarado of the New Orleans Pelicans, the only NBA player on the Puerto Rican roster, led his team with 18 points.
Puerto Rico briefly looked poised for another upset
Nearly 20 years ago to the day (12 days shy of the anniversary, if we're counting), Puerto Rico opened the 2004 Olympics by pulling one of the largest international upsets in history, defeating the Americans by 19 points. It was the first loss by a Team USA squad with NBA players.
And for about 17 minutes in the first half, a hint of possibility that another huge upset was possible wafted in the air. Jose Alvarado scored nine points in the first quarter and the Puerto Ricans led by as many as eight. It was a 46-43 game with 3:15 left before halftime when LeBron James threw a dazzling behind-the-back pass to Joel Embiid for a layup. That play sparked an 18-2 run to close the half for the Americans, who carried a 64-45 lead into the break and never looked back.
