Paris Olympics men’s basketball: France beats Canada to advance to semifinals; Serbia, Germany also through to semis

France’s Victor Wembanyama celebrates in the last minute in the men’s quarterfinal basketball match between France and Canada during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Bercy Arena in Paris on August 6, 2024. (Photo by LUIS TATO/AFP via Getty Images)

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It was a busy day on the basketball front ahead of the U.S. men’s matchup with Brazil in the quarterfinals, with host country France defeating Canada, Serbia beating Australia and Germany coming back against Greece to reach the semifinals.

France ekes out win over Canada

It wasn’t pretty at times, but France will be advancing to the semis after an 82-73 win over Canada on Tuesday.

The game could not have started worse for Canada. At one point, they had just two baskets and seven turnovers, while France led them 19-5. But as we saw in the Serbia-Australia and Greece-Germany games, early leads can disappear relatively quickly. Even though Canada had narrowed France’s lead to just 10 midway through the second quarter, they went into halftime down 45-29.

Canada was able to come out of the half strong, outscoring France 21-16 in the third period, and never let France build a comfortable lead, even getting within five with just over four minutes to play. But France stayed aggressive, and Evan Fournier hit a dagger 3-pointer with just under a minute to go to put France up by 10.

Guershon Yabusele led France’s with 22 points, Isaia Cordinier added 20 and Fournier finished with 15. Victor Wembanyama finished with 5 points and 12 rebounds. Shai Gilgeous Alexander put Canada on his back with a 27-point effort, but RJ Barret (16 points) and company didn’t provide enough help there.

Serbia, Nikola Jokic erase 24-point deficit to defeat Australia

Serbia’s Nikola Jokic celebrates after the quarterfinal match against Australia at Bercy Arena on August 06, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

Serbia is moving on to the medal round after a tight matchup against Australia. Behind a fabulous performance from Nikola Jokic (21 points, 14 rebounds, 8 assists), Serbia muscled its way back from a huge second quarter deficit to…

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Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-08-06 11:54:55

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