Team USA leads final four cast
MANILA, Philippines — The United States overwhelmed Brazil 122-87 on Tuesday to book an Olympic basketball semifinal against comeback kings Serbia as hosts France lined up a last-four clash with World Cup champions Germany.
Devin Booker scored 18 points and Anthony Edwards added 17 as six US players scored in double figures.
That included Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James, who had 12 points, nine assists, three rebounds and three steals before he departed early in the third quarter after taking an inadvertent elbow to the eye.
He briefly visited the locker room then returned to watch his teammates polish off another dominant win.
The Americans connected on 57.7 percent of their shots from the field, including 48.4 percent from three-point range. They piled up nine steals and six blocks while delivering a stream of highlight reel dunks.
“That’s what our team is built on, depth and, you know, we can have anybody get it going as far as scoring,” James said.
“We understand what the main goal is. The only main goal is for us to win gold, that’s all I care about.”
Anthony Davis scored 13 points and Kevin Durant scored 11. With a dunk in the third quarter Durant nabbed the 489th point of his Olympic career, making him the most prolific scorer among US men or women players in the Olympics, passing Lisa Leslie.
Brazil’s Bruno Caboclo led all scorers with 30 points, but the South Americans made little impression on a US side that has rolled through to the Final Four.
They will face a battle-tested Serbia, which erased a 24-point deficit to edge Australia 95-90 in overtime.
Reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic scored 21 points with 14 rebounds and eight assists and Bogdan Bogdanovic added 17 points.
Five Serbian players scored in double figures – and they needed those contributions after 35-year-old NBA veteran Patty Mills exploded for 14 straight points in a 20-0 Australia scoring run.
Mills finished with 26 points and Josh Giddey added 25, but Serbia outscored Australia 25-11 in the third quarter to lead 67-65 going into the final period.
Mills drilled a jump shot over Jokic to send it to overtime, but Jokic essentially sealed it with back-to-back
