Team USA put forth an impressive showing in the group stage of the Olympics, cruising to , , and to earn the top seed in the knockout rounds. Because of that top seeding, they faced Brazil in the quarterfinals and were massive favorites to win. While they’ve had slow starts throughout the Olympics, it didn’t take long for the Americans to assert their dominance on Tuesday night in Paris, as they jumped out to an early lead and never looked back.
Devin Booker and Joel Embiid led the charge early, with Booker knocking down a three while getting fouled to push the lead out to double digits in the first quarter. Devin Booker sinks it FOR THREE AND THE FOUL. 🇺🇸🔥 📺 USA Network and Peacock | — NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) From there, they really stretched their lead out in the second quarter, finishing with an exclamation point as LeBron James found Jayson Tatum for an alley-oop off an inbound that gave them a 27-point lead going into halftime.
Jayson Tatum ALLEY-OOP off the inbound from LeBron James! 🇺🇸😤 📺 USA Network and Peacock | — NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) The second half was much of the same, as Team USA cruised to a 122-87 win, as they simply asserted their will on Brazil, who had no way to match up with the physicality and athleticism of Team USA — with Anthony Davis’ massive putback dunk in the third quarter a friendly reminder of that difference. ANTHONY DAVIS PUTBACK SLAM. 😤🇺🇸 📺 USA Network and Pe.