France, Slovenia, USA, Australia to Olympic semis!
The 2020 Olympic Men’s Basketball Tournament continued Tuesday with the do-or-die quarterfinals. In its first appearance in the Olympic Tournament, Slovenia kept making history, beating Germany 94-70 to reach the medal rounds. Slovenia will next play France, which eliminated Italy. The other pairing will be Australia against the USA, which beat Spain.
Slovenia vs. Germany 94-70
Slovenia became the first team to reach the semifinals by downing Germany 94-70, accessing the medal rounds in its first Olympic Tournament appearance. Zoran Dragic led the winners with 27 points on 11-of-13 shooting, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals. Luka Doncic added 20 points, 8 rebounds, and 11 assists, while Mike Tobey had 13 points and 11 rebounds for Slovenia.
Maodo Lo led Germany with 11 points. Niels Giffey added 10.
Slovenia was up by 44-37 at halftime. Doncic and Dragic took over after the break, boosting their team’s lead to 66-52 after 30 minutes. Slovenia soon made it a 21-point game, 84-63, on a layup by Dragic and had plenty of time to celebrate a historic win.
USA vs. Spain 95-81
The USA punched its ticket to the semifinals by downing Spain 81-95 behind 29 points from Kevin Durant. Jayson Tatum had 13 for the USA.
Rucky Rubio led Spain with 38 points, the best scoring mark ever against the USA. Early on, Spain had a double-digit lead (40-29), but Durant stepped up for the USA, with the help from Zach Lavine, to tie the game, 43-43, at halftime.
Durant kept scoring from downtown after the break and got plenty of help from Lavine and Booker to take a 16-point lead (49-65).
Rubio and Hernangomez rescued Spain and Rodriguez sank a step-back triple that gave Spain hope, 63-69, after 30 minutes. Usman Garuba soon brought his team even closer, 65-69, but Damian Lillard and Tatum restored a 66-77 USA lead with 7 minutes left, enough to control the game until the final buzzer.
France vs. Italy 84-75
France edged Italy 75-84 on Tuesday afternoon to set up a semifinal clash with Slovenia. Rudy Gobert paced the winners with 22 points and 9 rebounds, Evan Fournier scored 21, Nicolas Batum collected 15 points and 14 rebounds.
Simone Fontecchio paced Italy with 23 points, Danilo Gallinari had 21 points and 10 rebounds, while Achille Polonara had 15 points plus 7 rebounds.
After ten minutes, Italy led by 25-20, but France returned to 30-33 and led by 43-42 by halftime.
After that, France used a 2-15 run midway through the third to open a 14-point lead and held 54-64 going into the fourth quarter, but Fontecchio strung together 10 points to tie the game at 66-66. The teams traded blows as the game went into the final minutes before Heurtel’s triple put France up 73-76 with 2:10 to go, then Heurtel dished it for Gobert’s dunk to make it 75-80 with 37 seconds left, sealing the deal.
Australia vs. Argentina 97-59
Australia was the last team to book a place in the semifinals with a 97-59 win over Argentina to end Tuesday action. Patty Mills led the winners with 18 points. Jock Landale and Matisse Thybulle each added 12, while Joe Ingles had 11 for the Boomers.
Nico Laprovittola led Argentina with 16 points. Gabriel Deck, who played for Real Madrid last season, added 12.
Argentina jumped to an early 10-18 lead with a run capped with a triple from Laprovittola, but Ingles replied with a three-pointer, then knocked down another one early in the second quarter as Australia rallied to take a 39-33 lead into halftime. Argentina remained close until late in the third quarter when Dante Exum helped Australia pull away to a 60-48 margin. Australia increased its defensive intensity in the fourth, opening the final quarter with a 17-0 run and cruising to victory.
