The United States' quest for a fifth consecutive gold medal in men's basketball will continue on Tuesday with a quarterfinal matchup against Brazil at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Team USA Basketball went 3-0 in the group stage with a plus-64 point differential that earned it the top seed heading into the knockout round.
The winner on Tuesday faces Serbia (and Nikola Jokic) in the semifinals. Germany and France -- which ousted Canada -- will face off in the other side of the bracket.
Team USA vs. Brazil
Time: 3:30 p.m. ET | Date: Tuesday, Aug. 6
Location: Bercy Arena -- Paris
TV channel: USA Network | Live stream: fubo (try for free)
Odds: USA -27 | O/U: 185.5
Live updates: Follow along
To little surprise, the Americans are heavy favorites against a Brazilian side that went 1-2 in the group stage and snuck into the quarterfinals via a point differential tiebreaker. Ahead of Tuesday's contest, here's everything you need to know:
Who starts for the Americans?
Team USA coach Steve Kerr has not been afraid to shake up his lineups or sit established NBA stars so far in this tournament. Perhaps most notably, Jayson Tatum received a DNP against Serbia and then started against South Sudan, while the exact opposite was true for Joel Embiid.
So what will Kerr do for the first knockout stage game, which affords no room for error?
LeBron James and Steph Curry are the only two players who have started every game, so we can lock them in. Embiid, too, feels like a certainty, given Brazil's physicality and offensive rebounding prowess. After that, it's less certain. Tatum is a great matchup for Brazil's most potent offensive threat, Bruno Caboclo, so he has a strong case, while the other guard spot will likely go to Jrue Holiday or Devin Booker.
Rebounding and defense key for Team USA
"We know what wins a FIBA game," Kerr said before the quarterfinal matchup. "We are just completely focused on our defense.
"They're very physical. I think they're the No. 1 offensive rebounding team in the tournament. They've got a lot of really good shooters, and they just play hard. They compete play after play, so we'll have to be ready for their physicality and their shooting, and we need to be on edge and ready for them because they're not going to back down."
For all the talk about the Americans' incredible offensive talent, they've also been dominant on the defensive end. In the group stage, they held opponents to 40% shooting overall, including 29% on 3-pointers, and recorded the most steals (32), defensive rebounds (95) and the second-most blocks (16).
Team USA will need to be alert on the boards Tuesday. Brazil has grabbed 39 offensive rebounds in three games so far, and second-chance points will be one of the few paths to an upset. Another will be from behind the arc, where Brazil is shooting a tournament-best 45.3%. If the Americans can control the glass and shut down the 3-point line, it's hard to see how Brazil scores enough to win.
Durant and Edwards leading the way off the bench
Even as the rest of the world has shrunk the talent gap with Team USA, no country can come anywhere close to matching the Americans' depth. Kevin Durant, Anthony Edwards and Anthony Davis all made the All-NBA Second Team last season, but none of them have started a game in this tournament.
It's no surprise, then, that Team USA has been crushing opposing bench units.
Edwards and Durant, in particular, have been unstoppable. The Timberwolves star is the leading scorer for Team USA at 16.7 points per game, while the former MVP is close behind at 16. Even more impressive, they're both shooting over 60% from the field in the tournament. If those two are on their game coming off the bench, it's going to be very hard for Brazil, or anyone else, to end Team USA's reign.
The Brazilian Kevin Durant
Once upon a time, Bruno Caboclo was one of the most intriguing prospects in the world. The No. 20 overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft to the Toronto Raptors, he was dubbed the "Brazilian Kevin Durant," while Fran Fraschilla described him as "two years away from being two years away."
His NBA career never got off the ground, as he appeared in just 105 games with four different franchises between 2014 and 2021. Since then, he has played professionally around the globe and most recently suited up for Partizan Belgrade in Serbia. He has also been a key figure for the Brazilian national team and is coming off a stunning 33-point, 17-rebound in the team's final group-stage win against Japan.
Caboclo can be inconsistent -- he didn't score in Brazil's first group-stage game versus France -- but the talent is there. Team USA will have to shut him down early because if he starts to feel it, he can be very difficult to stop.
First Olympic meeting since 1996
While Team USA is a staple at the Olympics, this is just the third time Brazil has been involved since the turn of the century, and that included their automatic inclusion as the hosts in 2016. Thus, it has been nearly three decades since the two countries have faced each other on this stage.
Coincidentally, that matchup also came in the quarterfinals. Team USA, led by Shaquille O'Neal, Scottie Pippen and Penny Hardaway, cruised to a 23-point win in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. A similar outcome is expected in Paris, as Team USA once again boasts a major talent advantage.
