Tokyo Olympics Men’s Basketball Knockout Bracket Set, U.S. to Face Spain originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Men’s basketball group play wrapped up on Sunday, and the knockout bracket quarterfinal matchups are officially set.
Team USA (2-1) will play Spain (2-1) after back-to-back blowout wins over Iran and Czech Republic. The U.S. suffered its first Olympics loss since 2004 when it fell to France in the opener. Led by Kevin Durant, Damian Lillard and Jayson Tatum, Team USA has looked like its old self over the last two games.
Spain, a longtime rival of the U.S., has a veteran-laden squad with experience dating back to the 2004 Olympics. Pau Gasol, 41, still plays a key role after leading the team to silver in 2008 and 2012. Ricky Rubio, Marc Gasol and Rudy Fernandez are among the other notable names still competing for Spain.
The winner of USA-Spain will face the winner of Australia-Argentina. Australia (3-0) defeated the U.S. in an exhibition game on July 12. Patty Mills leads the Aussies at 21.7 points per game, while 41-year-old Luis Scola is scoring 19.7 per game for Argentina (1-2).
On the other side of the bracket, France (3-0) will play Italy (2-1) and Slovenia (3-0) will play Germany (1-2). This works out favorably for the Americans, as France just defeated them in group play and Slovenia is led by the red-hot Luka Doncic (28.3 PPG).
Here’s a look at the full bracket:
Team USA’s game against Spain will tip at 12:40 a.m. ET on Tuesday, Aug. 3.
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