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The field for men's basketball at the Paris Olympics is set. Who's in? Who does the U.S. play?
AUSTIN (KXAN) — The 12-team field for the Paris 2024 men's basketball tournament is now complete following four Olympic qualifying games Sunday, and the United States now knows who is in their group to start play.
Puerto Rico was the final team named to Group C with the U.S., Serbia and South Sudan after a 79-68 win over Lithuania in San Juan. It will be Puerto Rico's first Olympics in men's basketball since 2004.
Spain, Greece and Brazil filled out the field with wins Sunday. Led by NBA superstar Giannis Antetokuonmpo, the Greeks topped Croatia 80-69 to go into Group A with Australia, Canada and Spain. Spain beat Bahamas 86-78 for the country's seventh consecutive Olympics berth. Spain's Rudy Fernandez will become the only player in Olympic history to appear in six Olympic Games. Fernandez, 39, had a 4-year career in the NBA with Portland and Denver from 2008-12.
Brazil earned its bid by clobbering Latvia on its home floor 94-69. Brazil went on a 19-0 run at the end of the first quarter to take a commanding 34-11 lead and cruised from there. Brazil went a perfect 8-for-8 from 3-point range during the opening frame, ending on a 65-foot miracle heave at the buzzer by Bruno Caboclo. Brazil is in Group B with France, Germany and Japan.
The U.S. began training camp Saturday at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas without forward Kevin Durant on the floor. The former Texas Longhorn has been sidelined with a sore calf, but U.S. head coach Steve Kerr said it wasn't serious and the team is treating it as "day-to-day."
Durant is the all-time leading scorer in Olympic play for the U.S. with 435 points and could win a record fourth gold medal if the U.S. gets the job done for the fifth consecutive Games. They begin group play July 28 against Serbia.
Group play begins July 27 with the gold medal game August 10. Teams will play each other once during the group stage.
Groups for men's basketball at the 2024 Paris Olympics
- Group A
- Australia
- Greece
- Canada
- Spain
- Group B
- France
- Germany
- Japan
- Brazil
- Group C
- Serbia
- South Sudan
- Puerto Rico
- United States
Eight teams — the top two teams in each group plus the two best third-place teams — will qualify for the bracket portion following group play. The quarterfinals will serve as a knockout round with the losing teams out of the tournament. The winners of the semifinals will play for the gold medal while the losers will play for bronze.