05/08/2021
Tokyo - The U.S. men’s basketball team will take on Australia while France Will Meet Slovenia in the Olympic semi-finals ,
In the Quarter final matches US after pulling away from Spain, 95-81 to meet Australia beat Argentina 97-59
While Slovenia searching for a first-ever medal in basketball, and just their fifth of these Olympic Games. beat Germany 94-70 to Meet France a most closely fought of the four quarter-finals, France held off pesky Italy to advance to their first Olympic semi since their aforementioned silver in 2000 defeated Italy 84-75
In Women USA had no difficulty in beating Australia 79-59 and will meet Serbia who defeated China 77-70 while Japan with 16 seconds to go for the final whistle saki Hayashi made a step back 3 point shot making host Japan in to the semi final and will meet France who scrape past Spain 67-64
In Men Kevin Durrant made all differences as team USA trailed Spain by as many as 10 points in the first half, but flipped the script in the third quarter thanks to 13 points from Nets’ scoring machine Kevin Durant who finished the game with 29 points, continuing to extend his record as the leading scorer in U.S. Olympic men’s basketball history.On the Spanish side, Ricky Rubio’s 38 points was not enough to avoid his fourth consecutive Olympics with a loss at the hands of the United States. It was the most points scored by an individual against Team USA in the Olympics or any other major competition.
In Women the two matches were an awesome Japan victory over Belgium and France Win over Spain It's a contest that generations will talk about - and not just by fans of Japan who celebrated their team making history with a first-ever Semi-Finals spot at the Women's Olympic Basketball Tournament.
Their 86-85 Quarter-Finals triumph over Belgium was a game for the ages. An epic, a classic. It came only 48 hours after a question had been posed about whether a beautiful basketball blueprint for the women's game had already been laid out in Tokyo? The answer was an emphatic yes as Japan and Belgium served up one of the greatest women's games of all-time - or at the very least, within an Olympic context.
There were 13 lead changes and the score was tied seven times. Most neutrals were probably praying for overtime, maybe a double, triple or quadruple - nobody wanted the fun to end. Japan made a comeback in the last minutes, capitalizing on an unsportsmanlike foul and some amazing three-pointers to get the job done. Then Saki Hayashi drilled the killer blow.
That dagger was sourced as assist number 14 from the hand of Rui Machida, as the guard passed a jaw-dropping 51 tournament assists in just four games. Yuki Miyazawa was also superb and dropped seven shots from downtown, while 'Captain Fantastic' Maki Takada shot the lights out, too, with 19 points.
Contrasting emotions were triggered on the buzzer as Belgium missed a shot to snatch the win. It laid bare the raw beauty and cruelty of sport in such pivotal moments. The joy of an entire nation erupted for the Olympic hosts. A few metres away, the Belgian Cats were heartbroken as their stirring debut at the Games ended with a gut punch.
They've done it! Gabby Williams runs away from contact to let the time run out, France protect their three-point lead, advance to the Semi-Finals, celebrate a memorable win over their arch-rivals!
It doesn't get any better than this - Marine Johannes was the hero, banking in her floater to make it +3 with 23 seconds left, releasing the ball with 0.1 on the shot clock, beating the buzzer and beating the ideas of the Spanish comeback, too.
Johannes finished with 18 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and a crazy +/- because France were +16 with her on the floor. Nobody else was over +6 in her squad!
Huge contribution by Gabby Williams, 11 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, and a pair of fouls drawn late in the game, including Alba Torrens' fifth.
Astou Ndour had 16 points and 11 rebounds for Spain, Maite Cazorla came up big in the fourth for 12 points, but did not come close to tying the game on her last three-point attempt with three seconds left to play.
What a day...
Semi finals Line up
Men
5th August Semi finals
France VS Slovenia
USA Vs Australia
Women
6th August
USA VS Serbia
Japan VS France
Detailed Scores Quarter Finals
Men
· USA-95(Kevin Durrant28, Devin Booker17, Jayson Tatum14, Jrue Holiday14, Damian Lillard13) bt Spain-81(Ricky Rubio34, Willy Hernangomez15, Victor Clavor12, Sergio Rodriguez11)(
· Australia-97(Patty Mills 18,Jock Landalle12,Marissa Tybulle12,joe Ingles11,Nickay10)bt Argentina -59(Nicolas Laprovittola16,Gabriel Deck12)(18-22,39-33,60-48,97-59)
· France-84(Rudy Gobert22,Evan Fornier21,Nicolas Batum15) bt Italy-75(Simone Fontecchio23,Danilo Gallinari21,Achille Polonara15) (20-25,43-42,64-54,84-75)
· Slovenia-94(Zoran Dragic27,Luka Doncic20,Mike Tobey13) bt Germany-Lo Maodo11,Niels Giffy10) (25-14,44-37,66-54,94-70)
Women
· USA-79(Breanna Stewart23,Britney Grinner15,Aja Wilson10) bt Australia-55(Leilani Mitchell14,Cayla George11) (26-12, 22-15, 20-12, 11-16)
· Serbia -77(Jelena brooks18,sanja vasic16,Ana Dabovic13) bt China 70(ting Shao17,Xuhan15,Liyuena13) (16-14, 19-19, 14-25, 28-12)
· Japan-86(Yuki Miyazawa21,MakiTakada19,Himawari Akaho12,Rui Machida10,Nako Mothashi10) bt Belgium-85(emma Meesseman25,Kim mestdagh24,Julie Allemand11,Antoria Delaere10)19-16, 22-26, 20-26, 25-17)
· France -67(marine Johannes18,Gabby Willams11) bt Spain-65(Astou Ndour16,maite Cazorla12,Cristine Olivina11,Alba torrens10)(21-16,15-14,19-18,12-16)
