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Brian Windhorst, ESPN Senior Writer
PARIS — For months, Tuesday’s Olympic men’s basketball knockout round had been marked as a much anticipated day for international basketball.
It felt like a college tournament — where anything could happen with four games being played in the same venue. For the first time, the setting was the French capital, where the largest venue, Bercy Arena, became available after the conclusion of Olympic gymnastics.
The United States, Germany, France and Serbia all advanced to the semifinals, which will be held Thursday. Here are the key takeaways after Team USA’s 112-80 victory over Brazil, as LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry all inch closer to a gold medal.
Team USA heeded Steve Kerr’s warning — again
When Steve Kerr met with his team before it took the floor Tuesday, he recapped what had happened earlier in the day in the Bercy Arena.
In the morning, Greece built a 12-point first-half lead on Germany, and it took a dominant second-half performance from the World Cup champs to make sure they advanced to the semifinals.
In the afternoon, Serbia trailed by 24 points to Australia before pulling off the biggest comeback in Olympic basketball history thanks to a brilliant final few minutes from Nikola Jokic.
Then, just as Team USA was arriving at the arena, France was pulling off a stirring upset over Canada, seen as the biggest challenger to the Americans for the gold.
Three underdogs putting the favorites to the test.
“All three had big leads at the end of the first quarter,” Kerr said. “And we wanted to come out and make sure we were the aggressor.”
Over the past month, Kerr has consistently gotten a response out of his players. He has challenged them several times, including pressing them to increase their tempo and tighten their focus after arriving in France. They have responded — every time.
Durant breaks an Olympic record
Durant was nonchalant while meeting with the media after the game in which he broke Lisa Leslie’s Team USA Olympic scoring record. After scoring 11 against Brazil, he now has 494 points, six more than Leslie had over four Olympics. And his teammates weren’t going to let him get away with playing it cool.
In the locker room after the game, Durant was celebrated and given the game ball to commemorate the moment.
The moment Kevin Durant made HISTORY, becoming the all-time leading scorer for USA basketball on the Olympic stage! 🏀🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/oSbmhFDthb
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 6, 2024
Tatum again takes a back seat
Jayson Tatum was the 11th man to enter the game Tuesday. Kerr said he went to Tatum during the second quarter because Devin Booker had two fouls and the team didn’t want him to get a third.
Tatum had 10 points and 10 rebounds against Puerto Rico — his best game of the Olympics — and Kerr said rebounding would be at a premium against Brazil. The first-team All-NBA player remained on the edge of the rotation, underscoring how hard it is for Kerr to get everyone playing time, regardless of their status in the game.
“Each game is extremely different, but the main thing is that we win,” Tatum said. “So whatever I got to do from game to game to be a part of that and contribute when I can, I’m going to do that.”
Tatum ended up getting 15 minutes of playing time because Joel Embiid sat the second half with a minor ankle injury. He had five points and three rebounds.
Point LeBron continues to thrive
James has thrown three passes in the Olympics that would qualify as some of the most impressive he has ever delivered and, yes, it’s a long list.
Against South Sudan, he threw a sharp pass to Durant from the sideline at midcourt, leading Durant out like a tight end, that led to a turnaround jumper just before the halftime buzzer.
Against Puerto Rico, he threw a backward, behind-the-back bounce pass to Embiid under the basket for a layup. He did it so casually, it was easy to miss the level of difficulty it presented.
On Tuesday, he inbounded the ball from half court, through the tightest of windows, to Tatum for an alley-oop.
“I know I didn’t draw it up,” Kerr said. “Because I didn’t know that one was even coming.”
Jayson Tatum ALLEY-OOP off the inbound from LeBron James! 🇺🇸😤
📺 USA Network and Peacock | #ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/CadgQ1aQlu
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 6, 2024