Team USA have been undefeated with 3-0 record as well as +64 point differential, this has earned them the No. 1 spot in the knockout stage of the 2024 Paris Olympics and are heading towards a gold medal in Paris.
Of course, the first three games were the easy part. This is where things get harder. Only eight of the 12 teams in the field remain, and unlike the group stage, there are no second chances.
If you lose, you’re out, and Team USA’s first single-elimination contest in the Olympics will come against a foe it hasn’t seen in nearly three decades. Team USA has a 9-0 record against Brazil in the Olympics, but their last bout came all the way back in 1996.
Not even LeBron James is old enough to have played in that one, so this is a group of Brazilian Olympians that Team USA has never seen.
Team USA Vs Brazil
The final two games Team USA plays in the Olympics may yet be difficult. This one shouldn’t be. Brazil lost by double digits to both France and Germany. It needed to shoot 61% from 3-point range to get by Japan.
We can be honest and say the primary reason Brazil advanced was its draw. Had it been a part of Group A, the group of death, it likely goes 0-3 against any combination of those teams. Spain is the superior team but got the worse draw.
It still only finished a single point behind Brazil in the point-differential standings. Brazil’s only current NBA player is Gui Santos, currently on a nonguaranteed deal with the Warriors. The talent just isn’t here.
When Brazil faced France in group play, it got out to a hot start and scored 23 points in the first quarter. The team then scored 22 in the next two quarters combined when Rudy Gobert returned from early foul trouble and Victor Wembanyama took over the game defensively.
It should give you a rough idea of what is going to happen when Team USA unleashes its best defenders in this match up. Sure, Brazil could get hot from three again, but this roster just has no ability to truly penetrate the paint against elite rim-protection. Brazil’s point guard is 41 years old.
