Tuesday marked the second game in men's basketball group play for eight of the 12 teams at the 2024 Paris Olympics, and it saw three teams move to 2-0 and guarantee their spots in the next round. Germany, France and Canada have all clinched quarterfinal berths thanks to wins over Brazil, Japan and Australia, respectively on Tuesday.
The top two teams in these Olympics advance from group play, plus the top two third-place finishers. That's eight teams, the exact number of squads the remain with a shot at a 2-1 record. Team USA can become the fourth team to ensure a knockout stage spot if the Americans can beat South Sudan on Wednesday.
Germany pulled away from Brazil for a 13-point win in the final game of the day Tuesday. Dennis Schroder led the way with 20 points and six assists. France had a much harder time with Japan.
For the first four-and-a-half minutes of overtime during France's thriller against Japan on Tuesday in Lille at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Victor Wembanyama was the only player to score. After narrowly avoiding a loss in regulation, Wembanyama scored eight of his 18 points in the extra frame and the home country came away with a 94-90 win.
France needed a four-point play from Matthew Strazel with 10 seconds left in the fourth quarter to force overtime. Japan almost pulled off the upset -- and cut an eight-point deficit to two late in overtime -- despite Rui Hachimura getting ejected with eight-and-a -half minutes left in regulation. Yuki Kawamura had a game-high 29 points for Japan, and Hachimura had 24 points on 10-for-16 shooting in 28 minutes.
Before that, Canada leaped to the top of the "Group of Death" with a 93-83 win against Australia. For the second straight game, RJ Barrett led the Canadians in scoring. He finished with 24 points on 8-for-15 shooting in 25 minutes, plus seven rebounds, five assists and two steals.
Despite the loss, Australia (1-1) is in second place in Group A. Spain (1-1) is in third, thanks to an 84-77 victory over Greece (0-2) on Tuesday, in which Giannis Antetokounmpo had 27 points on 12-for-17 shooting, 11 rebounds, three assists and two steals in defeat.
Tuesday's Olympic scores
Spain 84, Greece 77
Canada 93, Australia 83
France 94, Japan 90 (OT)
Germany 86, Brazil 73
The craziest game of the Olympics (so far)
When Hachimura hacked Rudy Gobert and picked up his second unsportsmanlike foul, triggering an ejection, Japan was down by two points. At the time, Hachimura had just made a pair of tough 3s on consecutive offensive possessions, so it seemed like the worst possible break Japan could get.
That bad break, however, did not doom Japan. Without Hachimura, Japan's 5-foot-8 point guard, Kawamura, became even more aggressive on offense, alternately shaking loose for deep 3s and worming his way into the paint. Less than three minutes after Hachimura's costly foul, Kawamura hit a stunning, off-the-dribble 3-pointer over Nando de Colo, who contested it so tightly that he picked up a foul on the play. On Japan's next possession, Kawamura got downhill and socred off the glass, giving Japan the lead.
France went scoreless for five and a half minutes in the fourth quarter before Evan Fournier hit a stepback 3 to tie the game at 80 with 50 seconds remaining. Just before Fournier's big bucket, Gobert was involved in two highlight blocks, but only one of them was good for France. The reigning (and four-time) NBA Defensive Player of the Year switched onto Kawamura and blocked a stepback 3, and, on the very next possession, Hugh Watanabe rejected Gobert at the rim in spectacular fashion.
Strazel inexplicably picked up a foul in the backcourt with 47 seconds left, sending Kawamura to the line for two free throws. Kawamura made both, and after Fournier and Gobert missed decent looks and Japan's Josh Hawkinson made another pair of free throws, France needed a miracle. It got it when Strazel made a leaning 3 off the bounce over Kawamura and converted the four-point play.
"We could've easily given up down four with 10 seconds. We had no solution, and we got a crazy shot from Matthew," Nicolas Batum said, via fiba.com. "Sometimes, God is on your side."
Kawamura missed a potential game-winner in regulation, and he shot just 9 for 26 in the game. He gave France's defense plenty of trouble, though, particularly when playing off Hawkinson's ball screens. Kawamura shot 6 for 15 from deep, Hawkinson 4 for 6, stretching France's defense out. After halftime, France came out with a smaller, quicker lineup than the one that started the game; Bilal Coulibaly was out there after not playing at all in the first half, and Gobert was on the bench. Wembanyama and Gobert did not share the floor at all in the second half until the 2:20 mark in the fourth quarter, but France stayed big the rest of the way.
In addition to his 18 points, Wembanyama finished with 11 rebounds, six assists, two steals and two blocks in 31 minutes. He started overtime with an and-1 after a missed 3 by Fournier, then blocked Kawamura in transition, made a 3 off an offensive rebound by Gobert, contested a Kawamura 3 on the other end and was fouled on an attempted alley-oop seconds later. After making a pair of free throws, France had an eight-point lead that it would not relinquish (even after Kawamura and Makoto Hiejima made late 3s).
Strazel, the 21-year-old point guard who plays for Monaco, scored 17 points on 5-for-9 shooting in 23 minutes off the bench. Guerschon Yabusele made two pick-and-pop 3s as soon as he checked in and finished with 13 points on 5-for-10 shooting. France had 50 bench points to Japan's nine, and Gobert had 15 rebounds, including six on the offensive end.
Japan was one stop away from earning a win at the Olympic Games for the first time since 1976. They didn't get it done, but they gave France a serious scare in the craziest game of this tournament.
"We can fight with any team," Hawkinson said, via fiba.com. "This was a true road game experience for us, 27,000 people, on the road, so many French fans, all chanting against us. To be able to fight until the very end against one of the top teams in the world, that's definitely steps in the right direction for us. No moral victories. We wanted to win."
"They played great and lost," Batum said. "They played amazing tonight, they kept fighting, and all credit to this team. Amazing team, man."
Next up, Japan will play Brazil on Friday at 5 a.m. ET. France will will play Germany at 3 p.m. ET on Friday.
Canada clamps Boomers
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander picked up two fouls in the first two minutes and missed most of the first quarter, which is one of the reasons that Australia had a four-point lead at halftime. Another reason: Josh Giddey had 15 points at halftime, looking completely at ease running the show for the Boomers.
Everything changed in the second half, though. Canada put Lu Dort on Giddey, his former Oklahoma City Thunder teammate, and increased the physicality across the board. The Boomers committed nine of their 18 turnovers in the third quarter, and Canada held them to just 13 points in the fourth.
At their best, the Canadians, much like Team USA, create chaos with their collective length and athleticism on defense. Australia countered that with ball movement and quick decision-making early on, but later got discombobulated. Canada piled up deflections and scored 28 points off turnovers to Australia's 10.
It's a bummer that Andrew Wiggins isn't with Team Canada, but it's hard to separate his absence from Barrett's strong showings in the first two games. The fact that Barrett made three of his six 3-point attempts against Australia was merely a bonus; what has stood out the entire time is his aggressive, but controlled driving game. He is absolutely thriving as a secondary playmaker, with Gilgeous-Alexander the clear focus of the opponent's game plan. Since Jamal Murray still appears to be ramping up and Wiggins isn't present, Canada has needed everything that Barrett has provided.
Jock Landale continues to be a massive difference-maker for Australia. The big man finished with 16 points on 7-for-10 shooting, 12 rebounds (including six on the offensive glass) and four assists in a game-high 31 minutes. Australia's coaching staff hasn't quite figured out the non-Landale minutes; both Duop Reath and Will Magnay had short stints against Canada.
When the Boomers play Greece on Friday at 7:30 a.m. ET, in their final game of group play, they will be hoping that national team legend Patty Mills can get back on track. He finished with eight points on 2-for-10 shooting (1-for-5 from deep) on Tuesday and was clearly bothered by Canada's collection of point-of-attack defenders.
"The concern coming into the game was their pressure and how we handle their pressure," Boomers coach Brian Goorjian said, via fiba.com. "Even though we had depth in those spots, they wore us down physically, and we really had trouble getting into anything in the second half."
Gilgeous-Alexander had a modest 16 points, but was amazing. He shot 8 for 10, got three steals and blocked two shots, including one in which he seemed to materialize out of nowhere to swat Jack McVeigh from the weak side. The Boomers have a bunch of top-notch point-of-attack defenders themselves, but, as usual, Gilgeous-Alexander created good (for him) looks whenever he needed to.
"He's that guy," Canada coach Jordi Fernandez said, via fiba.com. "Sometimes, I don't call plays for him and he just scores. That's what he does. Probably, I should be better and call more plays for him, but he finds a way."
Canada's last game of group play is Friday at 11:15 a.m. ET against Spain.
Antetokounmpo, Greece fall to 0-2
Here's Antetokounmpo going coast to coast for a lefty dunk on Santi Aldama's head:
This play tied Greece's game against Spain with about four and a half minutes left in the fourth quarter. Greece had trailed by as many as 16 points in the first half, but Antetokounmpo -- and Vasilis Toliopoulos, who shot 4 for 6 from deep in 17 minutes off the bench -- led them back.
Spain immediately answered, though, with an 8-0 run punctuated by a putback dunk from Aldama, who finished with a team-high 19 points on 6-for-14 shooting, 12 rebounds, two assists and three blocks in 29 minutes.
"He's our best player, and he knows it," Spain guard Dario Brizuela said, via fiba.com. "He's making a step forward this year compared to the World Cup last year. He's our leader now. He played an amazing game and we're happy for him."
In crunch time, Spain surprised Greece by going to a box-and-1 defense, with Willy Hernangomez sticking to Antetokounmpo.
"We thought we'd keep it for the very end of the game," Spain coach Sergio Scariolo said, via fiba.com. "Actually, with Luis Gil, our defensive coordinator, we've been talking a lot about doing it at some point, but we decided to keep it for the very end, because I wanted to keep Willy on the floor, his pick-and-roll with Lorenzo [Brown] is a big weapon for us."
Greece made one last late push and had a chance to tie the game in the final minute, but Antetokounmpo clanked a 3.
Brown finished with seven points and 10 assists in 28 minutes. Sergio Lllull had 13 points, including 11 (and all three of his 3-pointers) in the first half.
Toliopoulos gave Greece a spark with his shooting, but everybody else on the roster shot a combined 8 for 29 from 3-point range.
At 0-2, Greece must beat Australia on Friday to have a chance of advancing to the knockout round.