How Celtics stars fared in Team USA’s Olympic quarterfinal rout of Brazil
Another game, another blowout for Team USA at the Summer Olympics.
The U.S. men’s basketball team dump-trucked Brazil on Tuesday in Paris, winning 122-87 to advance to the semifinals on Thursday. They’ll face Serbia, which rallied from 24 points down to beat Australia 95-90 in overtime in its quarterfinal.
All three Celtics representatives saw action in the lopsided victory at Bercy Arena. Here’s how they fared:
Jayson Tatum
It initially looked like Tatum might be trending toward his second DNP of the Summer Games, as he did not start the game and was not among head coach Steve Kerr’s first five substitutes. He eventually checked in early in the second quarter, however, and was part of Kerr’s rotation for the rest of the game.
Tatum blocked a Vitor Benite shot on his first defensive possession — one of four blocks by Celtics players in the opening 14 minutes — and delivered one of the game’s loudest highlights when he slammed home an alley-oop dunk off an inbound pass from LeBron James seconds before halftime.
Overall, though, it was a rather quiet outing for the Celtics superstar. That poster dunk was his only made field goal (1 of 5). He finished with five points, three rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block and was a +17 in 20 minutes.
Jrue Holiday
Holiday returned to the starting lineup after sitting out the final group-stage game with a minor ankle injury.
The do-it-all guard made an immediate impact, notching a pair of blocks, an assist and a dunk (off a James feed) in his first shift. Holiday was a +25 in the first half — tied for the best mark of any player — and finished as a +21 in his 17 minutes.
Holiday also hit a 3-pointer to open the second half and went 4-for-7 from the field. His final line: nine points, three assists, two blocks.
Derrick White
The only Celtic who’s seen action in all four Olympic contests to date, White’s spotty shooting from Saturday’s win over Puerto Rico carried over against Brazil. He went 2-for-6 from the field and 1-for-4 from three to finish with five points in 17 minutes off the bench.
White did make an impact in other areas with four rebounds, four assists and two blocks, but he committed a regrettable foul on a late-clock 3-pointer and had the second-lowest plus/minus (+5) of any U.S. player.
By sweeping their group with a +67 point differential, the U.S. earned the No. 1 overall seed in the knockout rounds and, with it, the easiest quarterfinal draw. Brazil, whose roster features just one current NBA player (Golden State bench body Gui Santos), went 1-2 in pool play with two double-digit losses.
The draw also placed the Americans’ three strongest gold medal challengers — Canada, Germany and host France — on the opposite side of the bracket, meaning Team USA couldn’t face any of them until the final. Germany and France will face off in the other semifinal after defeating Greece and Canada, respectively, earlier Tuesday.
Former Boston forward Guerschon Yabusele (remember him?) scored 22 points to help lead the French past a Canadian squad that featured Celtics alums Kelly Olynyk and Dwight Powell. Yet another ex-Celtic, Evan Fournier, drilled a late three from just inside halfcourt to ice the game.
The U.S. has faced its semifinal opponent twice already and cruised to victory both times, beating Nikola Jokic-led Serbia 105-79 in a warmup game in Abu Dhabi and 110-84 in its Olympic opener.
The winners will meet in the gold medal game on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET.
Brazil’s Marcelinho Huertas, right, shoots as United States guard Jrue Holiday defends during a men’s basketball game at the 2024 Summer Olympics. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)