What we learned as Steph, Team USA rout Brazil to advance to semis

What we learned as Steph, Team USA rout Brazil to advance to semis originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

BOX SCORE

Team USA cruised to a 122-87 win against Brazil on Tuesday in the men’s basketball quarterfinals of the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics at Bercy Arena in Paris.

Brazil dropped their deficit to single digits in the second quarter thanks to a 10-0 run, but Team USA’s defense then locked in, using a 15-0 run of their own to close the half with a 27-point lead.

Through three quarters, Team USA had already scored 94 points. The talent discrepancy was clear, and Team USA’s offense was far too much to handle. Again, a monster Steph Curry game wasn’t the answer for the Americans.

Curry scored only seven points and spent the majority of the second half enjoying the view from the sidelines. Devin Booker, 18 points, was Team USA’s leading scorer, giving them four straight different top scorers in their four games at the Olympics. Six United States players scored 10 or more points, compared to only two for Brazil.

Kevin Durant continued making his case as the greatest basketball player in Olympics history, passing Lisa Leslie for the most career points by a Team USA member, men’s or women’s, of all time. Durant scored 11 points off the bench.

They weren’t challenged, but Team USA couldn’t have played better to reach the semifinals.

Team USA now will play Serbia on at noon PT on Thursday. The winner will play France or Germany in the championship.

Here are three takeaways from Team USA’s 35-point win.

Seven-Point Steph

Another blowout Team USA win, another day where a flurry from Curry wasn’t needed.

Quietly, Curry was perfect in the first half, scoring seven points on 2-of-2 shooting. He was fouled on his only 3-point attempt and made all three of his free throws. Curry’s two makes in the first half were both layups in the first quarter. His only shot in the second quarter was that 3-point attempt Curry was fouled on.

Curry took one shot in the third quarter, missing a 3-pointer a little more than halfway through the period. Resting and relaxing, Curry then watched the entire fourth quarter on the…


Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/learned-steph-team-usa-rout-214758898.html

Author : NBC Sports BayArea

Publish date : 2024-08-06 22:40:45

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