The group stage of the men’s basketball tournament at the 2024 Olympics has ended and eight teams have advanced to the knockout round. Sudden-death matches begin on Tuesday and the gold medal match will be played on Sunday.
Team USA is the overwhelming favorite to win it all, thanks to its 3-0 record in the group stage and its tournament-best +64 point differential. But anything can happen in this type of format. Here are the best teams remaining.
Men’s Olympic Basketball Quarterfinals Standings
1. United States
Team USA has been dominant, and it’s easy to see why when looking at their roster. LeBron James remains one of the best basketball players in the world, Kevin Durant is a proven Olympian, and their roster is so deep that stars like Jayson Tatum, Joel Embiid and Tyrese Haliburton have struggled to find minutes.
Making matters even scarier for the rest of the world is the fact that Team USA hasn’t even clicked into all gears yet. Steph Curry hasn’t taken off yet — he’s shooting just 26.3 percent from three-point range and 32.0 percent from the field. Curry is too good a shooter to stay in that kind of slump for long. When he finds his groove, he’ll add an even tougher option to worry about.
2. Canada
Canada played in the toughest group of this tournament. That didn’t matter much: they finished undefeated and beat good teams like Greece, Australia and Spain.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been a true star in international play. His 19.0 points per game rank seventh in the Olympics and he has shot an excellent 58.1 percent from the field.
Jamal Murray was supposed to be the other half of that dynamic defensive line. He’s been in a slump, shooting just 10 percent of his 3-pointers.
However, Canada still looks like the second-best team in the tournament thanks to the excellent play of RJ Barrett, Dillon Brooks, Lu Dort, Andrew Nembhard and others. They are loaded with good NBA players, but their Achilles heel may be the lack of high-level big men.
3. Germany
Germany was the third undefeated team in the group stage, which should come as no surprise given their victory at last summer’s FIBA World Cup.
Dennis Schroder was arguably the best player in that tournament. He remains a fantastic player in international football. The speedy guard is averaging 19.7 points and 9.0 assists, causing havoc with his drives and 40.9 percent three-point shooting.
Germany is not a one-man team, though. Franz Wagner has had some great games. Daniel Theis, Isaac Bonga and Johannes Voigtmann give the team great size. The Germans have great continuity and play better than the sum of their parts.
4. Serbia
Nikola Jokic has been his usual reliable self, averaging 18.7 points, 11.0 rebounds and 7.0 assists to lead Serbia to a 2-1 record so far.
However, it has been his teammate, Hawks guard Bogdan Bogdanovic, who has led Serbia in scoring. Bogdanovic’s 19.0 points per game have come as a result of three-point shooting, where he is hitting 52.9 percent of his attempts, in addition to making long drives to the basket.
The rest of Serbia’s roster has been up and down. Vasilije Micic is one of the best passers in the world and Nikola Jovic is a promising young center for the Heat. Serbia is always dangerous with Jokic, but doesn’t have the depth of some of the teams above them.
5. France
France was expected to be one of the best teams at the Olympics, but that has not been the case in the first three games. They barely made it to the knockout stage, needing a 94-90 overtime win against Japan to qualify.
Victor Wembanyama is one of the best players in the world. He has led France with 17.0 points per game and is shooting 52.4 percent from the field. However, his coach has criticized him for stopping the ball too much. The fit with fellow center Rudy Gobert has been awkward at times, but his defense has been solid.
France’s biggest problem has been its defense. Evan Fournier has been ineffective and the team’s veteran point guards haven’t offered much help.
6. Australia
Josh Giddey has been Australia’s best player so far. The new Bull is averaging 15.0 points, 8.7 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game. He’s never been a great three-point shooter in the NBA, but he’s made 42.9 percent of his threes this summer.
Joining Giddey are veterans Patty Mills and Jock Landale. Dyson Daniels has also shot the ball well and provided stellar defense.
Australia barely made it to the knockout round, going 1-2 in the group stage, but qualified on points difference after Canada beat Spain.
7. Greece
Giannis Antetokounmpo has been the best player this summer. His 27.0 points per game are easily the highest of any player, and he’s shot a ridiculous 68.9 percent of the time to do so.
Greece only went 1-2 in the group stage despite Giannis’ dominance, losing to Canada and Spain but beating Australia. Vasilis Toliopoulos is the team’s second-leading scorer at 13.0 points per game, with no other team averaging more than 10 points per game.
Greece is the team that scores the fewest points per game of all the remaining teams. It may not have the firepower to reach the medal round.
8. Brazil
Brazil has the toughest test of all these teams, as it will face Team USA in the quarterfinals. They have talent, led by former NBA player Bruno Caboclo. Veteran NBA guard Raul Neto and Marcelinho Huertas have great talent, and Gui Santos played well in short spurts for the Warriors last season. But they are at a severe disadvantage talent-wise. It will take a miracle to advance to the semifinals.
