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2024 Paris Olympics: Germany and Canada both finish men's basketball group play undefeated

France was surprisingly blown out in front of its home fans

ian casselberry
Contributing writer
·3 min read

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Group play is finishing up in the Paris Olympics men's basketball tournament. Both France and Germany were 2–0 in Group B, so one of them was going to take one loss into the quarterfinals after a head-to-head matchup.

Remarkably, the French had a terrible effort in front of their home crowd at Pierre Mauroy Stadium and lost 85–71.

Dennis Schroder and Franz Wagner each scored 26 points for Germany, while Moritz Wagner added eight as Germany improved to 3–0 (with a +47 point differential). Daniel Theis grabbed eight rebounds, while Schroder dished out eight assists.

France only scored nine points in the second quarter, going into halftime with a 48–27 deficit. Meanwhile, Germany was sharp from long range, shooting 46% (12-for-26) on 3-pointers. (Schroder shot 4-for-7 on his attempts.)

Victor Wembanyama struggled through much of the game, yet finished as France's leading scorer with 14 points on 5-for-11 shooting (3-for-7 on 3s). He also led all rebounders with 12 boards. Evan Fournier and Isaia Cordinier each added 10 points, while Nicolas Batum and Guerschon Yabusele both had eight.

One of the medal favorites is Canada, which emerged from Group A with a 3–0 record after outlasting Spain, 88–85, Thursday.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led Canada with 20 points, while providing one of the day's highlights after picking the ball from Spain's Sergio Llull and sticking his tongue out, a la Michael Jordan, as he cruised to an easy fast-break layup.

However, Spain made it close in the fourth quarter, cutting Canada's lead to 68–65 after three consecutive baskets by Dario Brizuela. Spain closed to within two points, 82–80, but missed free throws by Llull and Alex Abrines prevented a possible tie.

RJ Barrett hit the dagger for Canada, swishing a 3-pointer from the corner off a kickout pass from Gilgeous-Alexander for an 85–80 lead with 37 seconds remaining. Spain persisted with Llull hitting a 3 from the wing following a missed free throw by SGA to cut the score to 86–85. Yet SGA hit two more free throws to clinch the game for Canada. A half-court shot by Llull fell short as the buzzer sounded.

Andrew Nembhard scored 18 for Canada, followed by Barrett's 16. Dillon Brooks added 13 points, four rebounds and three assists.

Brizuela notched 15 points off the bench to lead Spain in scoring, followed by Llull's 13. Juancho Hernangomez and Jaime Pradilla each added 10 points, while Santi Aldama grabbed 10 rebounds in a last effort to keep Spain from being eliminated from tournament play.

Greece won its first game in group play with a 77–71 victory over Australia. That kept them alive to advance to the knockout round, but help is needed.

To move on to the quarterfinals, Greece needs Serbia to beat South Sudan by two or more points on Saturday. Australia advanced with Canada beating Spain.

Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 20 points with seven rebounds, six assists and two steals to lead Greece. Thomas Walkup added 18 points, followed by 13 from Vasilis Toliopoulos. Australia was led by Jock Landale's 17 points and eight rebounds, with Patty Mills scoring 13 and Dyson Daniels contributing 11. Josh Giddey grabbed 11 rebounds to go with his nine points.

Bruno Caboclo scored 33 points in leading Brazil to a 105–84 win over Japan. Vitor Beinite added 19. Brazil finished 1–2 in group play and advanced to the quarterfinals with Greece's win over Australia.

Japan went 0–3 in group play and is eliminated from the Olympics. Josh Hawkinson scored 26 points with nine rebounds against Brazil, while Yuki Kamamura added 21 with 10 assists.