France wows while US dazzles on way to men’s Olympic basketball semifinals

The French basketball team announced their arrival in Paris with a rip-roaring 82-73 win over Canada on Tuesday, riding a wave of national pride into the Olympic men’s semifinals while the US turned on the style to stay on track for a fifth straight gold.

The US rolled to a 122-87 win over Brazil without ever needing to go all out, but still served up just enough razzle dazzle to keep the capacity crowd buzzing in an effort that was as much about entertainment as sport.

The US has assembled perhaps the greatest collection of basketball talent seen on Olympic hardwood since the original 1992 Barcelona Dream Team that featured Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson. And nothing that happened in group play in Lille has altered their status as gold medal favourites.

It was cruise control for LeBron James and friends as the Americans eased to wins over Serbia, South Sudan and Puerto Rico by an average of 21 points before packing up and moving to Paris for the quarterfinals.

The routine knockout victory over Brazil sets up an intriguing final-four meeting, and a group-phase rematch with Serbia, who advanced to the semis with an overtime win over Australia.

The contest will also be a rematch of the 2016 Rio Games gold medal final and will feature James, a four-time NBA most valuable player leading the US, against the reigning three-time MVP Nikola Jokic.

France will face Germany in Thursday’s other semifinal.

“We understand we’re seizing opportunity,” said James. “The only game that’s guaranteed is the next one now.

“That’s the only thing we focus on, and focus on Serbia,” he said, adding: “The main goal is, and the only main goal is, for us to win gold. That’s all I care about.”

Physical contest

The US and Brazil meeting generated none of the electricity that filled the Bercy Arena hours earlier, when France and Canada engaged in an entertaining up-tempo, physical contest that had the building rocking from tip-off to buzzer.

All last week the arena had been home for the gymnastics competition, but not even Simone Biles was able to thrill the packed house the way Victor Wembanyama and his teammates did.

Feeding off the energy crackling through a seething Bercy, France gave the home crowd what they came to see, storming to a 19-5 lead in the opening minutes they would never relinquish, each basket triggering a thundering roar that rocked the arena to its foundation.

Having repelled a Canadian fightback, the rafters rattled again with 90 seconds left on the clock as the packed arena broke out in a rousing flag-waving rendition of La Marseillaise.

“It’s a great feeling to be able to make sure we play on the last day of the Olympics,” said France guard Evan Fournier. “Make sure we give ourselves a chance to win a medal and hopefully it’s going to be for the right one.”

Earlier, Jokic proved again why he may be the best player in the world, leading Serbia to a nail-biting 95-90 overtime win over Australia to reach the last four for the second time in three Games.

It was an uphill battle from the start for Serbia, who dug themselves out of a 24-point, first-half hole to reach the brink of a regulation victory, only to watch Patty Mill hit a desperation fade-away jumper with 1.4 seconds to play to force the extra session.

With just over a minute to go in overtime and Serbia trailing 90-89, Jokic came to his country’s rescue, scoring two clutch baskets to deliver the dagger and a 93-90 lead.

Bogdan Bogdanovic made the final two free throws to seal the victory.

In other quarterfinal action, Franz Wagner hit for 18 points as World Cup champions Germany overcame a sleepy start to ease past Greece 76-63. Reuters/DM