Spain vs. Brazil: 7 Keys to Watch for Olympics Basketball Bout

After a shocking 77-74 loss at the hands of Russia, Spain comes into their last game of Olympic preliminary round action against Brazil simply hoping to grab Group B's No. 2 seed.

Also losers to Russia, the Brazilians are coming off a 39-point drubbing of China and looked like one of the more complete teams so far in preliminary action.

The winner of this contest will likely take on Lithuania in the quarterfinals of elimination play with a matchup against Team USA in the semifinals. In a strange twist of fate, the loser of this matchup actually has the easier road, with France likely looming in the quarters and Russia in the semis.

But what are the keys coming into this final match of Group B action? Here's a look at seven things to look at heading into the contest.

Can Spain Bounce Back from Mid-Game Collapse Against Russia?

After the first quarter of their matchup against Russia Saturday, Spain was up 28-11, sitting beautifully and looking like the biggest threat to Team USA's Olympic crown.

But a scoring drought which saw the Spanish national squad put up just 25 points in quarters two and three against the upstart Russians evaporated their 17-point lead, directly causing their four-point loss.

In his first appearance since the Olympic opener, Spain team captain Juan Carlos Navarro looked extremely rusty, shooting 3-for-11 from the field on the way to a nine-point performance.

If Spain wants to reestablish itself as one of the tournament's two dominant teams, they will have to shake off that mid-game lull and come out strong against Brazil.

Can Brazil Repeat Their Dominance Against China?

A 39-point beatdown of world No. 10 China on Saturday could mark the beginning of a strong Brazilian run heading into the elimination round...or could simply be an aberration.

If Brazil comes out strong and defeats the world's second-best team, then we could have found our Olympic dark horse.

Against China, seemingly every Team Brazil member came to play as the team's boxscore resembled a well-balanced Team USA line. The team's leading scorer, Marquinhos Vieira, came off the bench while Anderson Varejao seemingly grabbed every rebound in sight for his 19-minute cameo appearance.

With Brazil firing on all cylinders and Spain reeling off an upset loss against Russia, this could be the perfect time to pull off a second upset.

Spainish Guard Play Must Improve

While it's mostly understood that Spain's overarching strength is their depth and skill in the frontcourt, their backcourt is probably even more depth-laden.

It just so happens that the entire depth-laden backcourt has struggled throughout group play so far.

Sergio Llull, the supposed heir apparent to Navarro at shooting guard, has only hit 50 percent of his shots in one game so far—a 1-for-1 outing in the opener against China.

The rest of the guards haven't been better, either. Both Jose Calderon and Sergio Rodriguez have been thoroughly mediocre running the point, and Fernando San Emeterio has struggled with his shot nearly as much as Llull.

This Spanish performance is a far cry from the 2008 squad in Beijing that relied on guard play. For Spain to make another run to the gold-medal game, they'll need vast improvement in the backcourt, starting against Brazil.

Marcelinho Huertas Must Continue Brilliant Play

Throughout Brazil's Olympic run so far, there have been countless references to Marcelinho Huertas' status as the "Brazilian Steve Nash."

While the "Country X's Steve Nash" is an overwrought distinction given to anyone with a tendency for distribution over scoring, it's easy to see why people are so ready to anoint Huertas.

The 29-year-old Huertas has carved up defenses in group play, getting great shots for his teammates while knowing when to take it himself. Huertas' only poor performance came against the Russians, who helped lock down the slashing point guard with smart team defense.

With Spain's guards struggling (and not exactly being deft defenders in the first place), the Brazilian star point guard's performance will be paramount to his country's effort.

Will Brazil Finally Find a Go-To Scorer?

In four games in London, Brazil has had three different leading scorers.

That's totally fine if you have an established hierarchy where the players know who leads them down the stretch and who takes the last shot if it ever comes to that.

Against Russia, it was Marcelinho Huertas who took the ball to the hole and put the Brazilians up 74-72 before Russian guard Vitaliy Fridzon knocked down the game-winning three-pointer.

But it didn't seem like Brazil actually had any level of planning in place.

In close games against elite opponents, not knowing who is in charge of the offense can torpedo even the best effort.

Shooting guard Leandro Barbosa is probably the team's best option, but that's only because he's the team's best outside shooter and most versatile scorer.

Regardless, Brazil needs to choose who to rely on in crisis mode before the elimination round or they could face a quick exit.

Can Brazil Contain the Spanish Big Men?

How to contain the overwhelming strength of the Spanish frontcourt has seemingly vexed every team so far in London.

The Russians did an admirable job, holding Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka to a combined 12 points, but still struggled against the elder Gasol as his 20 points led the way for Spain.

With Tiago Splitter and Anderson Varejao, Brazil has two NBA big men. But both Brazilians are at least one step down in skill level from the top three Spanish bigs.

Like Russia, Brazil will need to play strong team defense and rotate well on double teams if they hope to even have a shot against Spain.

Will Either Nation Actually Try to Win?

It's not exactly a secret that the loser of the matchup will face a far easier road in elimination round play than the victor.

With Spain and Brazil both taking a loss to group champion Russia, that means the winner of this contest finishes second in Group B.

If things go according to plan, the second place team from Group B would play the second place team in Group A, likely world No. 3 Argentina, in the quarterfinals before playing the overwhelming Olympic favorite Team USA in the semifinals.

By contrast, the loser of this matchup (as the third-seeded Group B team) would play France in the quarterfinals before a likely rematch against Russia in the semis.

That means avoiding Argentina and the U.S. until a hypothetical gold-medal matchup.

And in light of the badminton game-throwing scandal that left four nation's players thrown out of Olympic competition, many now wonder if we'll even see a legitimate contest.

Spain, who has been ravaged by injuries, could theoretically keep Marc Gasol and Juan Carlos Navarro out against the Brazilians.

But Spanish Basketball Federation president Jose Luis Saez and Brazilian coach Ruben Magnano say we won't see a thrown game (via ESPN).

It just remains to be seen whether that's actually the case.