The United States men's basketball team is just two wins away from a fifth consecutive gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
Team USA earned a decisive 122-87 win over Brazil in the quarterfinals Tuesday. The victory sets up a semifinals matchup versus Nikola Jokic and Serbia at 3 p.m. ET on Thursday. The U.S. defeated Serbia 110-84 in the first group stage game of the tournament last month.
France and Germany will square off in the other semifinals showdown.
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The trio of Boston Celtics players on the U.S. roster were reunited Tuesday after Jrue Holiday missed the last group stage matchup. Holiday started against Brazil, while Jayson Tatum and Derrick White came off the bench.
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Tatum played the last eight minutes of the second quarter and helped Team USA end the first half on a 15-0 run. White and Holiday both scored 11 points. They were two of nine American players who scored in double-digits. Tatum finished with six points. Los Angeles Lakers center Anthony Davis led Team USA with 23 points.
The greatest impact the Celtics players made in this game came on defense. White (two), Holiday (two) and Tatum (one) combined for five of Team USA's seven blocks. Tatum's block came on his first defensive possession and forced a 24-second shot clock violation. The Americans' first four blocks of the game were all from C's players.
Defense was a major factor in the Celtics beating the Dallas Mavericks in the 2024 NBA Finals, and these three stars have brought that same intensity to the Olympics.
Here's a full recap of how the three Celtics players fared against Brazil.
Jayson Tatum
Final stat line: 20 minutes, six points (1-for-5 FG; 0-for-0 3PT; 3-for-4 FT), three rebounds, one assist, one steal, +17 plus-minus
After starting in each of the last two games, Tatum was among the last to see the floor in the quarterfinals. He checked in with 7:58 remaining in the second quarter after every player except Tyrese Haliburton had played.
Tatum played the rest of the quarter and scored four points with one block and one assist in the frame. He provided one of the top highlights of the first half by finishing an alley-oop off an inbound pass from LeBron James with five seconds remaining.
Here's another look at Tatum's alley-oop:
Tatum finished with six points, three rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block in 20 minutes. He shot 1-of-5 from the floor but hit three of his four free throw attempts.
Jrue Holiday
Final stat line: 17 minutes, 11 points (4-for-7 FG, 1-for-2 3PT, 0-for-0 FT), three assists, two blocks, +21 plus-minus
Holiday missed the last group stage game versus Puerto Rico with an ankle injury, but he looked totally fine in his return to action against Brazil. The veteran guard was back in the starting lineup and made an immediate impact by making a dunk, dishing out an assist and blocking a shot all in the first three minutes.
Holiday tallied eight points (3-of-5 shooting) with two assists and two blocks in the first half. Team USA outscored Brazil by 25 points when Holiday was on the floor during the first two quarters.
The two-time NBA champ finished with 11 points, three assists and two blocks in 17 minutes. Holiday has scored 10-plus points in two of his three games at the Olympics. The lopsided score allowed Holiday to get a well-deserved rest in the second half.
Derrick White
Final stat line: 18 minutes, 11 points (2-for-6 FG, 1-for-4 3PT, 0-for-0 FT), four rebounds, four assists, two blocks, +5 plus-minus
White was among the first players to come off the bench, entering the game with 2:55 left in the opening quarter. The veteran guard gave a solid all-around performance in the first half by tallying six points, two rebounds, two assists and one block.
His most impressive play came early in the second quarter when he scored a putback layup off a missed 3-pointer by Kevin Durant.
White ended up scoring 11 points -- his high in any game at the Olympics -- along with four rebounds, four assists and two blocks in 18 minutes. He got a bunch of minutes in the fourth quarter as Team USA stretched its lead to 25-plus points.