The men’s basketball tournament at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 has come to an end, with Team USA once again coming away with the gold medal for the fourth Games in a row.
The US faced some early adversity after their defeat to France, but they rallied and eventually redeemed themselves against the French in the final.
The French were also involved in some of the other big moments throughout the competition, as were Luka Doncic and Slovenia.
SBOTOP takes a quick look back at the five most memorable moments that fans will remember from the Olympics 2020 men’s basketball tournament.
USA get revenge over France to win gold
The men’s basketball tournament did not feature too many upsets, but by far the biggest one came in the very first round of the preliminaries as France stunned the favoured Americans, 83-76. It was a big wake-up call for the US, who had also lost a couple of warm-up games ahead of the Olympics.
The US would bounce back, though, and as luck would have it, they would get the chance to redeem themselves as they were slated to meet France in the gold medal game.
Unlike in their first meeting, Kevin Durant was on point as his scoring kept the US slightly ahead in the first half. But despite his best efforts, the US just could not shake the French, who battled back time and again to stay within striking distance.
After three missed free throws by the US, France made one final push in the last few seconds as they trimmed a seven-point lead down to three. But Durant sealed the win with two late free throws as he finished with 29 points and won his third Olympic gold medal.
Luka Doncic dominates on his Olympic debut
Luka Doncic put on quite a show in his very first trip to the Olympics. The young Slovenian superstar nearly set the single-game Olympic scoring record in when he exploded for 48 points in his debut against Argentina.
And after dominating hosts Japan, Doncic produced a brilliant all-round performance to beat reigning world champions Spain. He finished with just 12 points as Spain made a concerted effort not to let him beat them. But Doncic still had 14 rebounds and 9 assists as he orchestrated the Slovenian offence wonderfully to bring down the world champions.
Doncic would go on to have a couple more outstanding games during the knockout phase, but he would unfortunately be overshadowed by an amazing play and an amazing performance.
Gasol brothers say goodbye
Because of Spain’s loss to Slovenia, they were drawn with old foes the US in the quarter-finals. Spain’s Olympics 2020 odds of going through were not great, and despite Ricky Rubio’s heroics (38 points), the world champions bowed out of the tournament.
That defeat marked the end of brothers Pau and Marc Gasol’s glittering international careers as they both decided to retire. Pau, 41, was clearly on his last legs and was only a bit-part player on the team. Marc, 36, had a bit more left in the tank, but he decided to walk away alongside his brother.
The two have been so crucial to the Spaniards’ success in international basketball for well over a decade. They led their country to several EuroBasket titles, two FIBA World Cup titles, and back-to-back silver medal finishes in the Olympics in 2008 and 2012.
Although they did not end up winning another medal, it was still a treat to see two of the greatest international players of all time one last time on the Olympic stage in Tokyo.
Nicolas Batum block sends France to final
After thrashing Germany in the semi-finals, Luka Doncic and Slovenia were well on course to win a medal as they faced France in the semi-finals.
The world was then treated to the best game of the Olympic tournament complete with an otherworldly performance as well as an all-time great ending.
Doncic was phenomenal once again as he finished with a triple-double of 16 points, 10 rebounds, and 18 assists – the second-most in Olympic history – to give Slovenia a shot to win in the dying seconds.
With Slovenia down 90-89 with mere seconds remaining, Doncic passed the ball off to Klemen Prepelic, who drove to the lane in search of the winning basket. But Nicolas Batum was with him step for step and produced a dramatic game-saving block to send France through to the gold medal game.
Without a doubt, Batum’s block will go down not only as one of the top Olympics 2020 highlights, but also one of the top moments in Olympic basketball history.
Patty Mills leads Boomers to first Olympic medal
Australia were overpowered by the US in the other semi-final, which set up the Boomers against Doncic’s Slovenia in the bronze medal match.
The Slovenians came in as slight favourites given their impressive performances during the tournament thanks to Doncic, but the Boomers’ Patty Mills completely stole the spotlight. The 32-year-old lit up Slovenia for 42 points to lead Australia to the 107-93 win.
So after coming in fourth on four separate occasions, the Boomers finally got their first-ever medal in Olympic basketball. The sheer pride and emotion of Mills’ and his team-mates faces’ after their victory was what the Olympics is all about, and it stands out as one of the top moments of the tournament.
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