Americans trounce Brazil as Kevin Durant becomes Team USA’s all-time leading Olympic scorer

PARIS — Most of the Olympic men’s basketball quarterfinals were stressful for the favorites, with the top seeds in the first three games falling behind by double digits and one (Canada) going down in an upset.

Team USA? Not so much.

The Americans routed Brazil on Tuesday night at Bercy Arena, 122-87, on the night Kevin Durant became the all-time leading scorer at the Olympics for USA Basketball, on the men’s or women’s side.

The U.S. will play Serbia for the third time this summer at 3 p.m. ET on Thursday in one semifinal. Defending World Cup champion Germany plays 2021 Olympic silver medalist France in the other semifinal.

Devin Booker was the United States’ leading scorer with 18 points and five 3s, LeBron James continued his Olympic dominance and Joel Embiid’s best night with the American team was interrupted by a minor ankle injury. The Americans have outscored opponents by 99 points in four games.

“These guys have really turned it up,” Team USA coach Steve Kerr said. “They’ve played really well for these four games, but our two toughest games will be the next two, no matter what happens. So we’ve got work to do.”

Embiid, clearly no longer bothered by whatever the French fans have to say to him, or about him, played his best game for Team USA this summer with 14 points and seven rebounds on 5-of-6 shooting, all in the first half. Kerr said Embiid approached him at halftime, complaining of a rolled ankle, and was held out for the second half.

“He’ll be fine,” Kerr said. “He came to me at halftime and said he rolled his ankle a little bit and so we preferred to make sure he was okay for the next one.”

Durant, meanwhile, scored 11 points and passed Lisa Leslie (488 points) for the most points at the Olympics by any USA Basketball player, male or female. The record-breaking dunk for Durant, who is trying to become the first men’s player to win four Olympic golds in basketball, came with 2:36 left in the third quarter and the Americans up 29.

“Records are meant to be broken, so somebody will probably come along and do the same,” Durant said. “I’m just focused on trying to win this gold.”

James was again a ferocious and intimidating mismatch for his opponents. He finished with 12 points and nine assists and three steals, including an absurd, Patrick Mahomes-like pass to Jayson Tatum for an alley-oop at the end of the first half. There certainly isn’t anyone else playing at the Olympics who could throw that pass; Tatum was basically covered but the angle and timing of the throw allowed Tatum to catch it and dunk it over a defender for a 63-36 lead.

James’ night was cut short when he was elbowed in the face under the basket in the third quarter by Brazil’s Georginho De Paula. Kerr said James received four stitches under his left eye.

“Yeah I’m all right, I got hit with an inadvertent elbow,” James said. “We see an opportunity. The only game that’s guaranteed is the next one now and that’s the only thing we focus on.”

Besides the bumps and ankle twists suffered by James and Embiid, it was as smooth of a game as the U.S. has played all summer. Brazil was never truly close (there was a brief run in the second quarter where the Brazilians cut the deficit to eight), getting blitzed by an American team looking for its first fast start at the Olympics.

The U.S. was ahead by 10 after four minutes and by 12 at the end of the first quarter, and was shooting 59 percent at halftime. The huge deficits that plagued Germany and Serbia in narrow wins, and sunk Canada against France, were simply not a concern while the Americans were on the court.

“We talked about it before the game, all three underdogs had big leads at the end of the first quarter and we wanted to come out and make sure we were the aggressor,” Kerr said.

Former NBA player Bruno Caboclo led Brazil with 24 points. The U.S. was concerned about Brazil’s offensive rebounding and 3-point shooting, and there were 11 offensive boards and 12 3s surrendered by the game’s end, but the Americans also registered nine steals and seven blocks. They won the overall rebounding battle comfortably.

“We understand that in order for us to lock down on this tournament, it starts for us on the defensive end,” James said.

Embiid’s summer has not been what NBA fans perhaps expected, as the former MVP has dealt with inconsistencies and a benching at the Olympics. But the Americans need him Thursday against Serbia, and, if all goes according to their plans, in a final against Germany or France — all of them have the kind of size that has historically bothered otherwise deep, NBA-talent-laden U.S. rosters.

The boos cascaded down from the rafters — it doesn’t matter whether Embiid is playing just outside of Lille, or in Paris — and Embiid (and teammates) relished returning the taunts. Embiid converted all three of his 3s, and with a chance to convert an and-1, gestured repeatedly toward the crowd by chopping his hands against his hips. It was the kind of taunting in the NBA that would get a player fined.

“They still might find a way,” Embiid said. “It feels good — just playing well with the team and especially with that type of lead and everything coming together. So it’s good to have fun too because at the end of the day, you got to take something out of this experience and that’s one of them. If the fans want to go on me, I’m going to tell ‘em to … I’m not gonna say the word.”

Embiid mentioned his wife is Brazilian, and her whole side of the family “was rooting against (him) too.” Get in line.

Anthony Davis contributed 13 points and eight rebounds off the bench. Anthony Edwards added 17 points. Steph Curry attempted three shots. The U.S. offense has been virtually unstoppable all summer, and certainly so at the Olympics, and one of its best players is more of a decoy and threat than an actual scorer so far.

“That’s the beauty and the strength of our team is that it can be any one of these guys,” Kerr said. “They all have to carry their franchises individually when they go back to the NBA. So we know they’re capable of carrying our team on any given day, but we don’t know who it’s going to be, and that’s the strength of the team.”

Serbia recovered from a 24-point deficit to beat Australia, 95-90, in overtime of an absolute barnburner of a second game Tuesday. Nikola Jokic starred with 21 points, 14 rebounds, and nine assists for Serbia; Patty Mills scored 26 points with a shot that momentarily saved Australia and sent the game to overtime.

The Americans have beaten Serbia comfortably twice this summer. When the U.S. blasted Serbia 105-79 on July 17 in Abu Dhabi, the Serbians had played Australia the night before and Bogdan Bogdanovic didn’t play against the Americans. The U.S. made 16 3s and Curry enjoyed what turned out to be easily his best game this summer with 24 points. That game was tied at 40 midway through the second quarter.

In the second game between the two, which was the Olympic opener for both clubs, the U.S. again won handily, 110-84, behind 23 points from Durant in his 2024 USA debut. But it was a tense first half marked by the Serbians’ relentless ball pressure, which the Americans struggled to handle. The Americans pulled away with 18 3s in that one.

Do they have another big game in store for Serbia?

“We understand what the main goal is and the only main goal is for us to win gold,” James said. “That’s all I care about.”