The USA defeated Australia while France beat Slovenia at the last minute.
The 2020 Olympics men’s basketball tournament’s semifinals are now complete. Here are the recaps.
USA gets revenge on Australian Boomers in 97-78 win
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Photo by Han Haidan/China News Service via Getty Images
It seems that the USA and Australia are facing each other in a lot of team sports. Yesterday, the women’s basketball teams faced each other in the quarterfinals. And earlier this morning, the women’s soccer teams played each other in the bronze medal match. Now, it’s the men’s basketball teams’ turn. And since things seem to come in threes, the Americans won every single time!
After their win in a friendly last month, the Australia men’s national basketball team had plenty of reason to be confident heading into last night. But the USA Basketball men’s national team’s chemistry is coming along as they shot 51.4 percent from the field and took advantage of a 32-10 third quarter to turn a 45-42 deficit into a commanding 21 point lead.
Kevin Durant scored 23 points for the Americans on 10-of-19 shooting while Devin Booker added 20 more. For the Boomers, Patty Mills scored 15 points but shot just 5-of-14 from the field.
France beat Slovenia, 90-89 after Nicolas Batum blocks a potential game-winning shot
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Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
France defeated Slovenia in the other semifinal which had 11 ties and 9 lead changes. Luka Doncic was clearly the best individual player on the floor where he had a triple double with 16 points, 18 assists and 10 rebounds.
That said, the game was decided on a last second block by Nicolas Batum on a layup that would have been the game-winner. Batum may have only scored 3 points on 1-of-5 shooting. But his impact was felt on the floor with his four blocks, especially that one.
Nando De Colo led France with 25 points and Evan Fournier added 23 more for Les Bleus.
The Medal Rounds
The Gold Medal match between the USA and France (which may very well be the women’s final too) is on at 10:30 p.m. ET on Friday. NBC will air it live. If the USA wins, it will be their fourth consecutive gold medal, and a redemption journey for the Americans, who are playing in much better form now than they were a month ago. If the Americans lose, it will be their second-even silver medal. France is going for its first gold medal in men’s basketball. If they lose, it will be their third, and their first silver medal since 2000.
The Bronze Medal match between Australia and Slovenia will be on at 7 a.m. ET on Saturday. Peacock will be your streaming option there.
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