The 2020 Olympic Men’s Basketball Tournament, featuring 38 players from the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and 7DAYS EuroCup playing key roles for their countries, continued Thursday with the semifinals. A gold-medal game will feature USA and France, while Slovenia and Australia will battle for bronze.
France wins drama vs Slovenia
In a thriller decided on the final play of the game, France edged Slovenia 90-89 to book a place in the gold medal game on Thursday. France’s hero was Nicolas Batum who blocked an attempt by Valencia Basket’s Klemen Prepelic with 2 seconds to go, sending France into big celebration and a return to the Olympic finals after 21 years. Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul guard Nando De Colo shined with 25 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists. Evan Fournier scored 23, Timothe Luwawu Cabarrot scored 15, while Rudy Gobert pulled down 16 rebounds in a victory. On the losing end, former EuroLeague MVP Luka Doncic had only the third triple-double in Olympics history, collecting 16 points, 18 assists and 10 rebounds. Valencia’s Mike Tobey paced Slovenia with 23 points and 8 rebounds, Prepelic finished with 17, and Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana guard Jaka Blazic scored 14.
Yar? Final: Fransa 90-89 Slovenya
Nando De Colo: 32:04, 25 say?, 7 ribaund, 5 asist, 26 verimlilik
Bu maç?n en skorer oyuncusu olan sporcumuz Nando De Colo, #Tokyo2020’de alt?n madalya maç?na ç?kacak!
Congratulations @NandoDeColo! #Basketball pic.twitter.com/5bgKc7mjhy
— Fenerbahçe Beko (@FBBasketbol) August 5, 2021
De Colo was hot for France early on, but Slovenia jumped ahead behind Doncic, Tobey and Blazic. Slovenia led 17-25 in the first quarter but France quickly erased the deficit, and Thomas Heurtel of Real Madrid put France up 33-31 midway through the second. Prepelic scored 7 points before halftime to help Slovenia to a 42-44 halftime lead. De Colo dished 3 assists and scored 6 points in less than 4 minutes in the third to help France surge ahead, 60-52. De Colo added a triple, and Heurtel’s layup made it 69-59 late in the third. Blazic hit one triple late in the third, and one to open the fourth quarter, before Tobey scored twice inside to tie it at 78-78 midway through the fourth. Luwawu’s three-pointer gave France 90-85 entering the final minute, but Prepelic answered with a three of his own, making it 90-89. Slovenia made a defensive stand and had a possession to win, Prepelic found an open lane and drove to the basket for a layup, but Batum rose from behind to swat the shot and deliver a huge win for France.
@Olympics pour @FRABasketball
Félicitations pour ce grand match la Slovénie Monstrueux ??
La France sera opposée à @USAbasketball ce samedi 7 août (4:30) https://t.co/0dxkgqBTTD— AS Monaco Basket (@ASMonaco_Basket) August 5, 2021
USA uses 23-1 run to get past Australia
USA will compete for gold at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo after beating Australia 97-78 in the first semifinal game on Thursday. Kevin Durant paced the winners with 23 points and 9 rebounds, while Devin Booker netted 20 point in a victory. Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton scored 11 apiece. Patty Mills has 15 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists for Australia, Dante Exum had 14 points, while former Zalgiris Kaunas and Partizan NIS Belgrade big man Jock Landale collected 11 points and 6 rebounds. Australia led throughout the first half, and held 26-41 midway through the second quarter. But USA finished the half on an 11-1 run, then scored the first 12 points of the third quarter for a 23-1 run that turned the game around. A 15-2 spurt to end the third quarter blew the game open as USA cruised to the finish line.
Seen at: Euroleague.net