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With the NBA Finals over, fans can now turn their attention to the Tokyo Olympics basketball tournament which begins on Sunday (July 25). Team USA will enter the tournament as favorites to win the gold medal. They will face stiff opposition from the likes of Spain and Australia, with the latter beating the USA in Las Vegas just over a week ago.
The tournament is split into three groups of four sides each with eight sides progressing into the quarter-finals. Group games will take place up until Sunday, 1st of August while the Gold Medal match will be played on Saturday, 7th of August.
Following the most recent FIBA World Rankings, six of the top ten teams will be competing, which should make for some exciting group stage encounters. We will highlight the top three match-ups in this article.
Top 3 Tokyo Olympics Basketball games to tune into
There is a lot of expectation on Team USA to perform at this summer's Tokyo Olympics Basketball tournament. However, as we have seen in their exhibition matches recently, their opponents are not going to go down without a fight and boast their own array of NBA talent.
Coaches and players alike know how to match up against the USA's All-Star roster and will be determined to be the team that topples the juggernaut of the tournament. All of this amounts to what should be a very exciting fortnight of quality basketball.
#3 Australia vs Germany (July 31st, 4:20AM ET)
On the second weekend of the Tokyo Olympics basketball action, most of the teams will be vying to finish top of their groups or qualify via the best third-placed sides route. This will certainly be the case in Group B, as one of the Games' favorites to finish on the podium, Australia, take on Germany.
Australia come into the Tokyo Olympics looking relaxed after a successful warm-up camp in Las Vegas. The 'Boomers' secured a dramatic 3-point win over Argentina with San Antonio Spurs veteran Patty Mills hitting the game-winning shot. Mills then combined with Joe Ingles to help secure a shocking victory over Team USA. Although most of their experienced stars were rested for their final exhibition contest against Nigeria, Australia were still able to come away with a wipeout 108-69 win.
This all means that when they face Germany, ranked 17th in the World according to FIBA, they will expect to win. Germany qualified for the Tokyo Olympics by overcoming Croatia and then beating Brazil in the Final, both of whom are ranked above them. They did this without star guard Dennis Schroder, who will also miss the Games in Japan.
Instead, they were led by Orlando Magic forward Moritz Wagner, who put up 28 points against Brazil and also have Washington Wizards guard Isaac Bonga on their roster. Although Australia should come away from this contest with the win, it will not be as straightforward as expected, particularly if Germany have something to play for after their opening two contests at the Tokyo Olympics.
#2 Spain vs Slovenia (1st August, 4:20AM ET)
The final game of the Tokyo Olympics basketball group stage could be the most exciting one prior to the knockout rounds. In what will be a tightly-fought Group C, Slovenia and Spain will match up with qualification potentially on the line. They could also be fighting for a higher finish over their opponents Argentina and Japan.
Spain, ranked 2nd in the FIBA World rankings, come into the Tokyo Olympics as favorites to walk away with a medal. They lost just once in their warm-up matches for the tournament, twice beating France and Iran before falling to the USA by seven points. They have a wealth of NBA talent, led at the point by Ricky Rubio, with frontcourt brothers Pau and Marc Gasol joined by Juancho and Willy Hernangomez.
In their way is Slovenian talisman and NBA superstar Luka Doncic. The 22-year-old was influential in leading his country to their first ever Olympic basketball tournament and recorded a monster triple-double in their qualifying final victory over Lithuania.
As we have seen from his performances for the Dallas Mavericks, Doncic has the ability to lead this Slovenia team into even greater uncharted territory at the Tokyo Olympics. However, he and his side will be up against it as they don't have another regular NBA starter on the roster.
Nevertheless, Slovenia have nothing to lose and will be underdogs to finish ahead of Spain or Argentina in their Tokyo Olympics group. They showed tremendous chemistry in their qualifying tournament and as long as Doncic is healthy, anything can happen.
#1 USA vs France (25th July, 8AM ET)
Team USA will open their Tokyo Olympics campaign with a stiff test against France, the 7th-seeded team in the World. Although the French come into the tournament on the back of three losses in their warm-up contests against Spain and Japan, they have an array of NBA talent who can hurt the USA team.
Anchoring the French side will be NBA Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert, whose size and rim protection will be a nightmare for Team USA's stars. His experience in the league and ability to ward off any opponent who drives the lane will be France's key component in stopping Kevin Durant and co in this Tokyo Olympics encounter.
Aside from the towering center, France has perimeter shooters in Nicolas Batum and Evan Fournier, both of whom had solid 2020-21 seasons for their NBA teams. At point guard, they have New York Knicks' former no.8 overall pick Frank Ntilikina and also have Brooklyn Nets forward Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot.
Despite their NBA experience, France will be in for a challenging game against a stacked Team USA at the Tokyo Olympics. Gregg Popovich's side struggled in their opening two exhibition matches but found their rhythm again against Spain and Argentina. They also boast a wealth of All-Star talent, Championship winners and veteran experience.
All of the attention will be on what the American players can produce in their opening contest and how they settle in at the Tokyo Olympics. This should make for a cagey but progressively entertaining game of basketball against France.
