The final knockout games of men’s basketball in the Olympic Games Paris 2024 have one central theme: rematch.
Up first for the bronze medal is a showdown between Germany and Serbia, a rematch from last year’s FIBA World Cup finale.
A year ago in Manila, Germany outlasted Serbia to win a breakthrough world championship. Now, Deutschland will look to cap a dream three-year run with their first-ever Olympic medal.
Meanwhile, Serbia is out to mark its Olympic return also with a medal. The Serbian’s won silver in Rio 2016, before missing out on the Olympics altogether in Tokyo 2020.
—
Road to the podium
While they are the reigning world champions and ranked third in FIBA’s order, Germany proved to be a strong surprise in the Olympics and looked to be among the prime challengers for Team USA.
Led by World Cup MVP Dennis Schroder and Franz Wagner, Germany dominated pool play, including a strong win over France to be Group B leader.
The German’s then eased through in the first knockout, eliminating Giannis Antetokounmpo and Greece.
That set up a fateful rematch against France in the semis, which they lost in a close affair.
On the other side, Serbia got a rude welcome back to the Olympics, dominated by Team USA in their opening game.
But Nikola Jokic, Bogdan Bogdanovic and the rest of the Eagles proved to be a persistent bunch, and their strong heart was highlighted by a sensational overtime win over Australia in the quarterfinals.
Serbia overcame a 24-point deficit to silence the Boomers, moving on to challenge Team USA in the semis.
In the rematch of pool play and the gold medal game of Rio 2016, Serbia put the top-ranked Americans on the ropes, only to be given a dose of their own medicine as they blew a 17-point lead to lose in a tight finish.
