USA rolls, Serbia comes back and France’s home court advantage. Here are 6 takeaways from the men’s basketball quarterfinals

By Kyle Feldscher, CNN

Paris (CNN) — The Olympic men’s basketball tournament on Tuesday finally made its way to Paris after touring through northern France for the early part of the Games.

Three of the four games at Bercy Arena were fun contests that came down to the final quarter – or the final seconds. And the last featured a USA team that appears absolutely unstoppable.

Here are six takeaways from a full day of basketball in Paris:

Team USA in imperious form

Team USA absolutely demolished Brazil to move into the semifinals after the Brazilians made the mistake of waking up an American squad that looked ready to put things in cruise control in the second quarter.

The Brazilians pushed back in the second quarter to cut the US lead to eight with about four minutes to go, leading coach Steve Kerr to call timeout and break Brazil’s momentum. After that, the US closed the half on a 21-5 run and never looked back.

There were concerns ahead of the Olympics that such a star-laden US team might have trouble gelling and performing as well as the national teams who are more used to playing together.

None of that seemed to even be a thought on Tuesday night in Paris. The Americans tossed alley-oops to each other, found one another on cutting runs to the basket, cheered each other’s highlight reel plays and seemed to be able to flip the switch in a moment when Brazil seemed to be a threat.

Led by Devin Booker’s 18 points, Anthony Edwards’ 17 and Joel Embiid’s answer to critics online and boo-birds in the crowd, it was just more proof that it is impossible to game plan for this team of stars. Sure, LeBron James and Kevin Durant can have off nights by their standards, but there’s always another NBA All-Star who’s ready to fill in that gap.

James spent much of the third and fourth quarters in the locker room after taking an elbow to the face. He went down to one knee quickly and was eventually guided to the bench by a trainer. He received treatment on the bench before heading to the back.

When he re-emerged, there were some cheers and a chant that sort of sounded like the NBA all-time leading scorer’s first name. He acknowledged the crowd with a wave and got a cheer in response. But it wasn’t King James they wanted – it was King Léon.

French swimming icon-turned-legend Léon Marchand was sat behind the Team USA bench and the crowd went nuts after realizing he was in attendance. And so, finally, someone was able to outshine Team USA on its way to a 122-87 victory. They’ll play Serbia in the semifinals on Thursday.

Serbs refuse to rollover, come back from 24-point deficit

When the Australians jumped out to a massive lead in the first half, Serbia looked for a moment like they might get run out of the gym in their first game in Paris.

But led by three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokić and Bogdan Bogdanović, the Serbs clawed their way back into the game by the end of the first half and then exploded in the third quarter to take the lead away from the Boomers.

In an arena that sort of feels like March Madness, with fans of both sides cheering their teams on wildly, it was the kind of classic college basketball run that steals momentum and turns a blow out into a nail biter.

The tough moments for the Serbs weren’t done once they climbed that mountain. They led through most of the fourth quarter, but with just 1.4 seconds to play, Patty Mills drained a running shot to tie the game and send it to overtime.

Once again, the Serbs’ mettle was tested and the teams traded buckets through the extra period. But in the end, their stars played like stars – Jokić draining a clutch turnaround jumpshot in the low post to put Serbia up three with 25 seconds to go and Bogdanović draining two free throws a few seconds later to make it a two-possession game and send the European nation through to the semifinals.

Patty Mills and Josh Giddey have their Olympic moment

Even in defeat, the Miami Heat’s Patty Mills and Chicago Bulls’ Josh Giddey can leave Paris knowing that they performed their best under the brightest lights of this tournament.

Mills started off like a rocket, scoring 20 points in the first half and shooting the lights out. He was the spark that led the Aussies to their big first-half lead and was shooting the lights out for much of the half.

And when Mills went quiet in the second half, Giddey picked up the pace. He, in particular, should take some solace away from his 25-point performance on Tuesday after he had been criticized for his performance in group play. As the Boomers struggled to blunt Serbia’s momentum in the second half, it was Giddey they turned to when they needed a key bucket.

Mills’ slow second half may have been the talking point out of this game if not for Australia’s final possession of the fourth quarter. Trailing by two, the former San Antonio Spurs guard took the inbounds pass and was matched up against Jokić and his massive 6-foot-11-inch frame. The Australian tried to dribble around the 2023 NBA champion but lost the handle briefly.

When he regained possession, Mills’ running, falling shot went over Jokić’s outstretched hand and dropped through the net to tie the game with 1.4 seconds left, sending things into overtime.

French crowd roars Les Bleus forward

Just as they have at other venues around these Games, the French fans got loud – early and often – for Les Bleus in their matchup against Canada

The Canadians were the favored team in the match-up with their lineup that consisted of 10 NBA players, but the French had an arena full of screaming, singing, chanting compatriots that hardly took a moment’s rest through all 40 minutes of the pulsating affair.

With a drummer leading a supporters’ section that felt like a student section at a college basketball game, the French team rode that wave of energy to a big early lead that they would never relinquish. Even in the moments when Canada pulled close – in the fourth quarter, the North Americans closed the gap to just five points – the French fans stayed loud behind their team.

The enthusiasm of the crowd clearly had an impact on the French squad, playing in their nation’s capital for the first time during these Olympics.

Evan Fournier gets left out of the starting lineup and hits the shot of his life

Perhaps no one soaked up the crowd’s noise more than Evan Fournier.

The NBA veteran was left out of the starting lineup, along with fellow veteran Rudy Gobert, in a big bet by French coach Vincent Collet. It seemed to pay off as France flew out of the gates and Fournier didn’t make an impact on the game until he got his first points in the second quarter.

But in crunch time, Fournier was the man who got the ball in the biggest moment of the game and put the Canadians away for good.

The crowd sang “La Marseillaise” as the French inbounded the ball with the clocking ticking toward a minute left in the game. France missed several shots but got their own rebound each time. Finally, the ball made its way to an open Fournier.

It was the biggest shot of the game – arguably of Fournier’s career – and he absolutely buried it, a dagger that Canada could not come back from.

He turned toward the screaming crowd and stuck out his tongue while flexing, spinning all around the arena to soak in the moment as his compatriots roared. The French lead was now eight and they were on to face world champion Germany in the semifinals.

Antetokounmpo can’t do it all as Germans hold off underdogs and pull away

For a brief moment, it appeared that the lowest seed to make the knockout rounds of this tournament was about to stun the world champion.

The Greeks ran out to a 12-point lead in the first quarter, putting the Germans on their heels quickly in the opening contest of four quarterfinals played at the Bercy Arena on Tuesday.

But in the end, all that Greece really had was Giannis Antetokounmpo. And even a superstar of his caliber couldn’t lift the players around him to the level needed to beat a team laden with NBA stars like Germany.

Antetokounmpo was the focus of the German defense through much of the second half, and once he was limited – or went to the bench for a brief rest – it was clear that the Greeks had nothing else in the tank. His nation’s flag bearer, Antetokounmpo did well to bring his nation this far in the tournament.

In the end, it wasn’t really that close, with the Germans winning 76-63. The scoreline flattered the Greeks as Germany let off the gas somewhat in the final moments as they cruised into the semifinals, where they’ll play France.

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