Which team has scored the most points in a single basketball game at the Olympics?

Basketball is one of the core sports at the Olympic Games. Every four years, some of the best players and teams face off in pursuit of obtaining one of the biggest awards worldwide: the Olympic gold medal.

The Paris 2024 Olympic Games are no exception since we’ve seen players like Victor Wembanyama, Nikola Jokić, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jamal Murray, and, of course, the United States team. For this Olympic Games, US coach Steve Kerr made sure to bring together some of the best American players: LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Jayson Tatum, Anthony Davis, and Devin Booker, among others.

Team USA has shown why they are most likely to take the gold; they have won all their games until now, scoring more than 100 points each time! In the group stage, they beat Serbia (110-94), South Sudan (103-86), and Puerto Rico (104-83), while in the quarterfinals, they thrashed Brazil with an impressive score of 122-87. The US is one step closer to glory, but first, they will have to pass Serbia in the semifinals.

However, despite the USA’s outstanding performance during the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, they have been far from breaking the record for most points scored in a single game; this one was set during the London 2012 Olympic Games, and it looks as if it will remain intact during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. But, as we know, records are meant to be broken, so there is always a possibility to be in the Olympic history books.

Let’s have a look at the top three.

Teams with more scored points in a basketball Olympics single game

#3 Yugoslavia vs China (128-61)- Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games

In the quarterfinal match against China, Yugoslavia displayed one of the best performances in the men’s basketball tournament. With an impressive 128-61 scoreline, Yugoslavia overcame the Chinese to earn their spot in the semis; they eventually reached the final, facing the United States, but lost the game (69-95) and took the silver medal.

#2 Brazil vs Japan (128-62)- Athens 2004 Olympic Games

Now, we go to the women’s tournament, where Brazil faced Japan in the group stage. The South Americans defeated their rivals by an impressive score of 128-62. They reached 100 points with eight minutes left on the clock and decided to go all-in for the record. Although Brazil went medalless after losing against Russia in the bronze medal match, they can boast of having one of the top records in Olympic Basketball.

#1 USA vs Nigeria (156-73)- London 2012 Olympic Games

We started this article with the US and will finish it with them. After winning the gold medal in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, the Americans wanted to retain it in the next edition of the Olympics.

To do so, they assembled one of their best-ever teams: Tyson Chandler, Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, Deron Williams, Andre Iguodala, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Love, James Harden, Chris Paul, Anthony Davis and Carmelo Anthony. Their biggest victim was Nigeria on Group A matchday 3. The United States won the game by 156-73, an 83-point difference!

What’s more, the US can boast of breaking two records during that game, the other being for the biggest halftime score (78-45). Mike Krzyzewski’s team retained the gold medal by beating Spain in the final with a score of 107-100.