France 73 - 69 Germany summary, stats, scores and highlights | Olympic Men’s basketball semifinals
France is moving on to their second straight Olympic gold medal match, this time they will have the entire country backing them from Paris. Who will they be taking on, Team USA in a rematch of the gold medal match from Tokyo or will Serbia surprise the world and set up an all European final?
Guershon Yabusele was lavished with MVP chants after leading the team in the win over Canada and then scoring 9 straight points early in the third quarter and putting France in the lead that they would keep until the finish line.
Wemby started to get going late in the first half and had the game tying basket to head into halftime. France would take that momentum into the second half and take the lead for the rest of the way.
After trailing by double digits early, France started fighting back in the second quarter, and shut Germany down in the second 10 minutes. They held the World Cup Champions to just 8 points and tied he game up going to halftime.
Victor Wembanyama took a little while to get going from the field, but like he did against Canada, he found ways to impact the game without scoring. He had a couple huge blocks, got some offensive rebounds and waited for his shots to start dropping.
France is moving on to the gold medal match for the second straight Olympics, but this time they will be going for the top spot on the podium on their home soil, with the City of Paris and the entire country behind them. For the second straight game Guershon Yabusele led his team to a knockout game win, scoring 17 points and grabbing 7 rebounds to a chorus of MVP chants all game long.
It was his back court teammate Isaiah Cordinier who kept his side in the game after Germany came out blazing from the field. He had 9 points in the first quarter to combat Franz Wagner and Dennis Schroder.
IT'S ALL OVER!!!!
FRANCE IS GOING TO THE GOLD MEDAL MATCH FOR THE SECOND STRAIGHT OLYMPICS, THIS TIME ON THEIR HOME SOIL!!!!
Cordinier to the line with 7.4 to go and he hits both FTs to stretch the lead to 4!
Cordinier sends Schroder to the line to shoot two FTs before he can put up a game tying three pointer. Schroder misses the first one and makes the next with 9.4 to go!
Timeout GER with 10.9 to go!
Wemby goes to the line after the foul on Theis and he missed one of two FTs to stretch the lead 3 to with 10.9 to go!
Batum missed the three ball, and Wagner fell out of bounds on the sideline chasing after the rebound! FRA ball with 12 seconds to go. Timeout GER.
Wagner pulls up from way downtown and drills the three ball to pull to within 2 points with 38.6 to go!
Timeout FRA nursing a lead. What an ending to this semifinal!
Lessort to the line after the quick foul on Wagner and he hits one of two FTs. 56.1 to go.
Quick dish to Schroder down low and he lays it up and in. Under 1:00 to go.
Yabusele just fouled out after fouling Theis, but he leaves the game to a heroes welcome.
Cordinier had a chance to end this game with a slam down the lane but it got blocked from behind by Bonga and GER still have a chance with 70 seconds to go!
Schroder called for a travel after leaving his feet and getting tangled up with Wemby in the air
Under 2:00 to go.
Yabusele looked like he threw it away and it was called out of bounds on Germany. GER are going to challenge and they are going to win this challenge 2:45 to go.
Quick trigger from Obst off the dish from Bonga!
Under 3:30 to go and France lead by 9.
Yabusele going to the line after the foul on Voightman and he hits both FTs to a chorus of MVP around the stadium.
4:00 to go here from Paris!
Wembanyama just checked back into the game with 4:10 to go. Gobert has played a handful of minutes at most.
Theis kicks it out to Bonga who was opoen for three and open for business!
Lessort dives to the bucket and gets fouled on the lay up attempt by Voightman. He hits one of two FTs and the lead is back to 10.
Theis fouled on the put back by Yabusele and he hits both FTs. Under 5:00 to go.
The call stands and Germany get the ball down 11 with 6:00 to go.
Out of bounds called for Germany, but Lessort tells his coach to challege.
Bonga with an offnsive board and he finds Theis for the lay up and a much needed bucket.
Timeout France with 6:02 to go in Paris.
Ntilikina steps into a three ball and the lad is up to 13 with under 7:00 to go!!!
Lessort gets it on the block and goes up and under a couple defenders for the jump hook in the lane!
Timeout Germany after a 7-3 run to start the fourth quarter! 7:16 to go and the World Cup Champions have their backs against the ropes.
Wemby missed his first three attempt, but got a second shot from long range after the rebound and kick out from Ntilkina and he drains it!
Bonga was left open after a loose ball was recovered by Theimann and he drills the three ball from the wing!
Fournier missed the three ball but Ntilkina was there for the rebound and put back.
WE ARE AT THE END OF THE THIRD QUARTER!!!
France took their first lead thanks to 9 straight points from Yabusele early in the quarter and they lead by 6!
Fournier jacks a three ball and it just seems as France is getting stronger as Germany starts to fade! 1:00 to go in the third quarter!
Lessort going strong to the rack and he lays it up and in off the dish from Wemby.
Theiman to the line after the foul on Ntilkina and he hits one of two FTs.
Cordinier answers back with a pull up three ball from the top of the key! That's 14 for Cordinier!!!
Schroder pulls up from mid range and he's got 15 points to lead Germany.
Mo Wagner follows up his brother's missed three and slams it home!
Wemby looks down low for Batum who turns gets the jump hook and the foul on Obst! FT is good.
Mo Wagner finds Schroder in the corner and he drills the three. He doesn't miss threes with Germany!
Yabusele with the fader in the paint, that falls and he gets the foul on Theis! FT is good, that's 9 straight points and he's getting MVP chants around from here to the Eiffel Tower!
Voightmann going back to work down low and it's a two man game between Yabu and him.
Yabusele gets the jumper to fall from the mid range and he's got the hot hand out of the break!
Schroder jacks a deep three from the top of the key and he drills it to tie the game up!
Yabusele going back to work down low and he gets it to fall.
Voightman with the turn around in the lane and he's got back to back buckets.
Yabusele driving hard down the paint and he cocks it back and smashes it home!
Voightman fouled in the paint and gets the bucket to go, but the FT is no good after the foul on Albicy.
Swing pass from Yabusele to Batum on the wing and he drains the three to give France their first lead.
WE ARE BACK IN PLAY FROM PARIS FOR THE SECOND HALF OF ACTION!
Matias Lessort came off the bench and provided a much needed spark for the French team that came out flat. Wemby started finding his flow, but Rudy Gobert continues to look a little lost. Let's see if it's Lessort who plays a bit more in the second half instead of Rudy.
Wemby started the game cold from the field, but when your are 7'5, you can change the game in other ways. He had a couple big blocks, some offensive rebounds and finally got some decent looks later in the half. He's got 7 and 5 rebounds.
Germany came out and set the tone early on thanks to Schroder and Wagner's 7 points. They led by seven after the first 10 minutes but Isaiah Cordinier kept his side in it early with 9 early points. He's got 11 and 3 rebounds with 2 steals.
WE ARE HEADING TO HALFTIME TIED AFTER 20 MINUTES FROM PARIS!!!
Germany scored 25 in the first quarter, and just 8 in the second. It's anybody's game going into the final two quarters.
Albiciy looking down for Wemby who was fending off Theis, and the big man just slammed it right over the German center!
Albicy running the break, he finds Wemby down low and Wemby slips it over to Yabusele for the lay up.
Batum running the break and he gets rewarded with a slip pass from Cordinier for the slam!
Timeout Germany with 1:46 to go in the 2nd quarter. GER only have 8 points this quarter.
Obst gets his first bit of space on the night and punishes France with a three ball from the top of the key!
Rebound and put back from Yabuseles after the miss from Cordinier.
Schroder dumps it off for Theis in the lane and he hits the shot put from the paint.
Wemby working the pick and roll with Batum, and he lunges to the bucket, get the foul and the bucket! FT is good
Wemby with a huge block on the alley oop try to Theis and the stadium erupts again! He's not scoring much, but he's impacting the game like he did against Canada..
Wemby follows up his own miss with the offensive rebound and put back after Batum tipped it back to him. Theimann is down and slow to get up after taking a shot to the eye.
Cordinier drives down the lane and lays it up in traffic. He's in double digits for France with half their points.
Wagner finds Weiler-Babb in the corner and he strokes the corner three to stretch the lead to 10 points!
Last game: Team USA
Team USA had one of the easiest games of the quarterfinals after breezing past the competition and playing the worst of the two third place teams that made the knockout stages. Brazil snuck into the quarters with a win over Japan but they were no match for Team USA got off to a quick start thanks to some hot shooting from Devin Booker and Joel Embiid. Booker hit a couple early threes to begin his 18 points night and Embiid drilled three triples while egging on the French crowd that has turned against him, and he has returned the favor. The game was over by early in the second quarter although Bruno Caboclo did his best to keep his side in the game, scoring 30 points but it was far from enough to keep Brazil in the contest as Team USA eased to their fourth straight blowout win.
We are live from Paris
Hello everyone and welcome to Bercy Arena for one of the games of the tournament and the events of the Olympics. It’s Serbia and Team USA going head to head in the semifinals in a rematch of the gold medal match in Rio from 2016. This is the third time these two teams have played in less than a month, and Team USA has handled them with ease, but Serbia might be saving their best for last. Team USA has rolled through the competition, but Serbia have had their struggles. They had to make a big comeback against Australia just to get to this stage of the tournament, and after an overtime thriller, how much will be in the tank just two days later?
Team USA vs. Serbia live
It’s a game worthy of a gold medal match. The best team in the world taking on the best player in the world. This edition of Team USA has been compared to the Dream Team of 1992, and are making their case for the best team ever. Nikola Jokic is the best player on the planet and he will, almost singlehandedly, being trying to take down this American super team in the semifinals. It’s Team USA against Serbia for the second time in this Olympics, and AS English will be with you all afternoon providing live coverage, stats, highlights and analysis of the semifinal showdown from Paris.