LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Anthony Davis. GETTY IMAGES

The US men's team face Brazil on Tuesday while the women's team faces Nigeria on Wednesday. They will be the closing games of each day's competition. Much attention will also be focused on whether France can qualify for the semi-finals.

The basketball tournaments move to Paris' Bercy Arena for the medal play-offs this week. The USA is expected to easily qualify for the semi-finals in both tournaments with the men's team playing on Tuesday before the women's team plays on Wednesday. The other matches, however, which kick off with Germany against Greece at 11:00 local time on Tuesday, are expected to be much closer.  

The reigning world champions will face Giannis Antetokounmpo, one of the biggest stars of the tournament. Germany has performed well in the group stage, with the occasional moment of doubt against Brazil and having to withstand France's comeback attempt in the match that decided the top spot of Group B. Dennis Schroder and Franz Wagner are leading a team that is looking the favourite going into the game.



Greece qualified after a terrific showing against Australia on the third day of Group A but they were less convincing against Canada and Spain. 

Antetokounmpo is one of basketball's best in recent years and is a great threat but on paper, the team has some weaknesses with statistics highlighting poor shooting percentages, something that could penalise them a lot against the Germans. 

The Milwaukee Bucks forward has yet to win a medal with the team, and now they face the team that eliminated them in the quarter-finals of Eurobasket 2022 with an outstanding performance. The semi-final opponent will be whoever wins out of France and Canada.

The second quarter-final will be Serbia against Australia at 14:30. The presence of Nikola Jokic makes Serbia favourites, but they face an experienced and physical team. The European team made their Olympic Games debut against the United States, and only in the first half did they look like they could compete against the favourites. 

Then they eased past Puerto Rico before South Sudan forced them to work hard for the win. If Bogdan Bogdanovic and Vasilje Micic continue at a high level, they are going to be a hard team to beat carrying on the form that saw them win silver at the 2023 World Cup.

Australia's approach to the games is to fight to impose their physicality. Whether it is to rebound more than their opponents, but also to score from close range with Jock Landale or with the baskets of players like Dante Exum. Patty Mills is nearing the end of his career, but Josh Giddey and Dyson Daniels will be taking over as the future leaders and playmakers of the Australian team. The winner of this match will await the winner of the USA and Brazil.



The third match will be France versus Canada at 18:00. It has all the makings of a great match. The French will have to rely on the size of Victor Wembanyama and Rudy Gobert, as well as the support of the crowd, who will be pushing as hard as they can. In the first round, their defensive effort was enough to beat Brazil, but Japan took them to overtime and Germany beat them quite comfortably. They also need to impose the physicality of Guerschon Yabusele, Andrew Albicy or Nicolas Batum, and hope for moments of inspiration from Evan Fournier or Nando de Colo.

France's opponents are very difficult to beat. Canada has not won any of their group games convincingly, and Spain gave them a tough time but they have a great collection of talent, starting with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, possibly one of the best five players in the world today. They have very good defensive players too, such as Dillon Brooks, Lu Dort and Kelly Olynyk. They lack a good Jamal Murray to be almost unbeatable but they play against the hosts, the Wembanyama team.



The quarter-finals end with USA-Brazil at 21:30 which is expected to be the most one-sided match of the quarter-finals. Not only because the USA are showing that they are an almost unbeatable team, but also because they have been drawn against one of the lowest-ranked teams among those who have reached this round.

Brazil has the weapons to compete against several teams in this tournament. The ability of Bruno Caboclo, the umpteenth youth of Marcelinho Huertas, the outside shooting of Vitor Benite and Yago Santos, who on a good day is a sure bet. But not all their days are good.

Brazil's problem is that they have LeBron James' team in front of them. The Los Angeles Lakers superstar is in charge of the locker room. That doesn't mean he's the best player on the team, but he always adds up. He's surrounded by players who can score. Kevin Durant is one of the best the Olympics has ever seen. Stephen Curry can pop up at any time to make three-pointers, Anthony Edwards is already a new superstar, Jayson Tatum has plenty of quality and poise, Devin Booker is a very reliable scorer inside and out, and Embiid, at his best, is indefensible in the zone. 



Add to that the defensive ability of Anthony Davis, Jrue Holiday, Derrick White and Bam Adebayo. They haven't had to step on the gas in the entire first round and they may not have to in the quarter-finals either.

Women, Wednesday

The first match of the women's quarter-finals will be Serbia-Australia at 11:00. A repeat match-up from the men's tournament. Here, too, Serbia should be the favourite, but there are doubts. The Balkan team has not been convincing in the first round. Against Puerto Rico, they almost lost a game they were winning comfortably, and Spain put the lights out for a very long stretch of the match.

Having Dragana Stankovic or Yvonne Anderson may be enough. Australia have had a lot of problems in the tournament, but they managed to qualify by beating France with a great collective effort. And that is the key to this match. Alanna Smith, Sami Whitcomb or Tess Madgen are there to finish off that job. The winners' opponents will come from Nigeria-USA.

The second quarter-final will be Spain-Belgium. The final of the last Eurobasket will be repeated. The Belgians won there. In this tournament, they have had a hard time getting through, partly because they were drawn in the USA group. Against Germany they had nothing to do either, and against Japan, they got just enough to qualify. They have Emma Meeseman, one of the undisputed stars of the tournament. Her duel with Spain's Meg Gustafson is for basketball gourmets.



Leonor Rodriguez and Gustafson have been among Spain's best. They pushed hard to win in overtime against China and a Puerto Rico which almost gave them the surprise. Now there is no room for error. The gradual retirement of Spain's best generation has left them with less talent. Just like the men's national team. But it comes naturally to them to know how to compete very well. The test against Belgium is a very interesting match. Then it will be the winner of the Germany-France match.

That will be the third quarter-final, at 18:00. The Germans have been feeling very good. The Sabally sisters look set to lead their country to the medals, but any help from Leonie Fiebich will also be important. What they need to adjust a little are the turnovers and impose their defence as much as they can.

Up front, they will have Marine Johannes and Gabby Williams. They are two very talented players who France will need as much as possible. The atmosphere will be in their favour, but they will need a remarkable defensive performance to have any chance of beating the Germans.

Nigeria and USA close out the quarter-finals at 21:30. The prediction is crystal clear. Nigeria has already made history by being the first African team to reach the quarter-finals of the Olympic Games. The game against the USA is a game to have fun and enjoy, and also to show all the basketball they have inside. Ezinne Kalu is the player to watch.



The USA is fighting against itself. If they are at their level, no team should trouble them for gold. Breanna Stewart and A'ja Wilson seem to be enough to carry the weight of the team but watch out for other players like Alyssa Thomas and Sabrina Ionescu.

There are also the stories of Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner. One is seeking her sixth Olympic gold. She is the only player to have participated in six Games. Only Rudy Fernandez can say the same in basketball. She's not playing a major role in the tournament, but she's such a big figure that it's hard not to notice her, both on the court and on the bench. Griner has had a traumatic experience in Russia, going through jail. There was a lot of effort to get him released, and here he is looking for his third Olympic gold.