Olympic Basketball 2021: Luka Doncic, Slovenia Stay Undefeated; USA vs. Spain Set
August 1, 2021
Luka Doncic and Slovenia completed an undefeated run through the men's basketball group stage in the Tokyo Olympics with a victory Sunday over Spain at Saitama Super Arena.
Argentina also clinched a berth in the knockout rounds on the men's side with a blowout win over the host nation of Japan. As a result of the subsequent bracket draw, Team USA will face Spain in the quarterfinals.
Spain and Serbia picked up wins in the women's tournament to advance out of Group A.
Men's Basketball Results
Argentina 97, Japan 77
Slovenia 95, Spain 87
Women's Basketball Results
Spain 76, Canada 66
Serbia 65, South Korea 61
Aug. 1 Basketball Recap
Doncic struggled from the field Sunday, making just two of his seven field-goal attempts, but he still had a major impact on the outcome as he nearly posted a triple-double with 12 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists. Vlatko Cancar led Slovenia in scoring with 22 points in the win.
Spain's offense was stuck in neutral for much of the contest, shooting just 37.7 percent from the field (29 of 77) despite a strong 24-8 assist-to-turnover ratio. Ricky Rubio was the top performer with 18 points and nine assists.
"I think we're ready for everything," Doncic told reporters. "It's the quarterfinals. If you lose you home and we're going to come out 100 percent."
Argentina will join Slovenia and Spain in the knockout rounds out of Group C thanks to its win over Japan. The Argentinians stormed out to a 10-point lead after the first quarter and never looked back. Luis Scola led the way with a double-double, 23 points and 10 rebounds.
Here's a look at the full men's knockout bracket:
FIBA #Tokyo2020 @FIBAThe stage is set for the Men's <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Olympics?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Olympics</a> basketball Quarter-Finals! ✅<br><br>Who you got? 🤔<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FRA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FRA</a> ⚔️ <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ITA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ITA</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SLO?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SLO</a> ⚔️ <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GER?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GER</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/USA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#USA</a> ⚔️ <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ESP?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ESP</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AUS?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AUS</a> ⚔️ <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ARG?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ARG</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Basketball?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Basketball</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Tokyo2020?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Tokyo2020</a> <a href="https://t.co/RPZuqfMKnA">pic.twitter.com/RPZuqfMKnA</a>
There's still one day left of pool play in the women's tournament, but Spain and Serbia have already punched their tickets to the quarterfinals.
Spain controlled the paint to pull away from Canada. The 2016 silver medalists shot 62 percent (29 of 47) on their two-point attempts, while Canada connected on just 36 percent (19 of 53) of those shots. Astou Ndour continued her strong play with 20 points, 11 boards and two blocks for the Group A winners.
The Canadians still have a chance to reach the quarters as a third-place team depending on Monday's results in the other two groups.
Serbia withstood a second-half rally from South Korea to guarantee its advancement. Four different Serbians reached double figures in scoring as part of a balanced offensive attack, led by Aleksandra Crvendakic with 15 points.
South Korea, which narrowly missed out on an upset of Spain in the tournament opener, has been eliminated after going 0-3 in group play.
Monday's basketball schedule in Tokyo features the final four games of women's pool play: Nigeria vs. Japan, France vs. the United States, China vs. Belgium and Australia vs. Puerto Rico. Team USA's clash with France is set for 1:40 p.m. local time (12:40 a.m. ET in the U.S.).