LILLE (France) - Brazil were red hot from beyond the arc to start against Japan, ending the game in the all-time record books for three-pointers made.
More importantly, their three-point shooting helped them claim a big enough victory to clinch a spot in the Quarter-Finals as one of the two best third-placed teams in each Group.
The South American squad knocked down 17 three-pointers in total on just 28 attempts - an uber-efficient 61 percent three-point shooting ratio.
Most three-pointers team in single game all-time at the Olympics
The three-pointer was introduced as a statistic for the Olympics in 1988.
It was clear from the start that Brazil were feeling good shooting from long range as they knocked down 11 three-pointers on 13 attempts (85 percent) in the first half taking a 55-44 lead going into halftime.
Vitor Benite and Bruno Caboclo both made all three of their three-point attempts, Leo Meindl went 2-of-2, Lucas Dias and Yago Santos both knocked down their only shot while Georginho De Paula went 1-of-2 and Gui Santos missed his sole attempt.
Brazil cooled down in the second half, but made enough to launch themselves in the Top 10 of the all-time record books and more importantly get them the win. Benite ended up leading the team with five three-pointers, while Caboclo finished with 4 made threes and zero misses.
Japan fought back with their long range shooting as well, matching their Olympic-high of 16 three-pointers against France in this game. It was, however, not enough, to salvage a win.
The two teams combined for 33 three-pointers, the joint second-most in a game at the Olympics (USA v Nigeria, 35 in 2012; Lithuania v Italy, 33 in 2004); this is however, the first time that both teams scored more than 15 3-pointers in a same game at the Olympics.
FIBA