Olympic Basketball 2012 Scores: Quarterfinal Results, Stats & More

The basketball tournament at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London has finally moved on past the group stage and into the medal rounds.

Wednesday marks the first day of this knockout stage and four quarterfinal games between the eight best teams in the tourney.

Let’s take a look at who will be advancing to the semifinals and who is going home, which players were studs and which were duds and much more.

Russia 83, Lithuania 74

Recap

The Russians are looking like the best team out of Group B in the tournament and continued that with a sound beating of the Lithuanians.

It seemed that they couldn’t miss, as they hit 45 percent of their shots, including 23-of-45 from inside the arc and 5-of-17 from beyond it. Lithuania made just 14 of their 40 two-point attempts, but drained 8-of-19 from long range.

Lithuania made things close quite a few times, but the accuracy of the Russian snipers was too much for them to overcome.

Notable Performances

Timofey Mozgov - Russia  

The big center piled in 17 points and kept getting to the free throw line. Mozgov was huge on offense for the Russians and was the second-leading scorer for his team in the game.

The Denver Nuggets big wasn’t able to contribute many rebounds—just grabbing four boards—but that was largely due to this next man’s tenacity on the glass.

Andrei Kirilenko – Russia

AK47 went nuts against the Lithuanians and is continuing to prove he can lead his Russian team to greatness. 

The latest addition to the Minnesota Timberwolves put up 17 points, snatched 13 boards (5 offensive), got to the line for 12 attempts, blocked three shots, racked up three steals and dished three assists. He also drew seven fouls in his 38-plus minutes played.

Jonas Valanciunas – Lithuania

The No. 5 pick in the 2011 NBA draft needed to come up with a stronger offensive performance in this game. He scored just seven points during his 15:44 minutes on the floor.

However, Valanciunas proved he’s an absolute beast on the glass, grabbing nine boards in that limited time.

The Lithuanians should have kept the Toronto Raptor out on the court more often and given him more offensive chances.

Spain 66, France 59

Recap

The Spaniards had a scare against the French, but ultimately saved their Olympic medal hopes with a run in the final minutes.

It was a defensive battle that La Roja was finally able to gain an edge in over Les Bleus, due in no small part to their sizable star brothers; Marc and Pau Gasol.

The pair of NBA stars were able to finally force the Frenchmen into enough bad shots and clamp down tight enough on D to earn a victory that was closer than the final score indicates.

It was an ugly game in which neither team shot particularly well (France: 35% 2PT FG, 32% 3PT FG, Spain: 47% 2PT FG, 20% 3PT FG), or moved the ball well for easy scores (10 assists for France, 12 for Spain).

The six-point, 18% shooting fourth quarter was what ultimately doomed the French and allowed the Spaniards to advance and face Russia in the semifinals on Friday.

Notable Performances

Pau Gasol – Spain

The Lakers superstar scored just 10 points, but he pulled down 11 rebounds and blocked two shots. He also drew eight fouls, which had a big impact on the French strategy.

If it weren’t for Pau’s presence on the defensive end, especially in the fourth quarter, it would have been lights out for the No. 2 team in the world. Instead they advance and get one step closer to a gold medal rematch with the USA.

Marc Gasol – Spain

The 27-year-old was the leading scorer for La Roja, putting up 14 points on 50 percent shooting, which included one three-pointer.

Marc grabbed eight rebounds to go along with his scoring, but his four turnovers were concerning for someone who did not have the ball that often.

Tony Parker – France

San Antonio relies on Parker just as much as Les Bleus do. Unfortuantely, he wasn’t able to come through for the national team this year and his tournament ends with a 15-point, 6-20 shooting, six rebound, one assist performance.

Spain simply focused on locking Parker down and letting the rest of his teammates bet them. That strategy seemed to be failing for the Spaniards until the fourth quarter. Parker wasn’t able to get free in the clutch and no one else could find the bottom of the net.

Brazil vs. Argentina – 2:45 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network

Will be updated following conclusion of contest.

USA vs. Australia – 5:15 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network

Will be updated following conclusion of contest.