PARIS (France) - Who could stop us from dreaming, asked Brazil's head coach Aco Petrovic after learning that his team would have the toughest possible draw in the Quarter-Finals. The answer? LeBron James, Kevin Durant and their teammates could wake Brazil up.
The last of the four Quarter-Finals is set to tip-off at 21:30 CET, as these two match up for the first time at the Olympics since 1996. They were drawn together in this same phase back then, with USA claiming a 98-75 win en route to another gold medal at home.
Basketball is a different sport nowadays compared to the Atlanta 1996 Olympics, but the roles are somewhat similar, as Brazil are once again the underdogs, while coach Steve Kerr enjoys the view from the top at 3-0 so far at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Key matchup
Bruno Caboclo vs Everybody
The biggest reason why Brazil are here is the fact that their starting center went crazy in their last group game against Japan. Bruno Caboclo put up 33 points and 17 rebounds, insane numbers, which haven't been seen at this level since 1972.
Coach Petrovic loves using Caboclo's huge wingspan at the "five" position to create matchup problems, but even with his incredible run, he is in for a fight for 40 minutes, because chances are he'll have to take on Joel Embiid, Anthony Davis and Bam Adebayo, one by one.
On a good day, Bruno looks unstoppable. On a bad day, he's probably the reason why he looks stoppable, and he's aware of it, saying he needs to be smarter with his fouls. Against France, he was held scoreless in just 11 minutes, committing four quick fouls.
Similar thing happened against Germany, limiting him to 13 minutes, but Brazil were a +14 team in that span, an incredible number in a game they lost by 13 points.
The United States will not panic because of him, but they will be ready to stop him with different options. Embiid's size, Davis's defensive versatility, and Adebayo's energy and adaptability on the court.
X-factors
Point guards
Other than seeing Caboclo shine, Brazil enjoyed the return of Raul Neto to the lineup, giving them another experienced option at the point guard spot.
Coach Steve Kerr loves putting pressure on point guards, usually by getting Jrue Holiday and Anthony Edwards to play physical, so it's crucial for Brazil's hopes to survive that part of the game.
Marcelinho Huertas is playing amazing basketball, but at 41, he's unlikely to spend 40 minutes on the floor. Yago Santos is a completely different profile, but he also fought through injury troubles to make it back in time for this tournament.
Neto is still shaking off rust after a horrible knee injury and a left thigh injury earlier this summer.
It remains to be seen what they will do defensively, because the United States love handing over the point guard duties to LeBron James. Hard to expect any of the three Brazilian guards to be on LeBron, making potential cross-matches troubling in defensive transition, especially with USA Basketball's incredible talent pool.
Stats don't lie
It's all about the United States. This will be the tenth Olympic rendezvous between the two teams. USA's record in previous nine games against Brazil? 9-0.
This will also be the 13th time the United States made the Quarter-Finals of the Olympics. Their record in previous 12 Quarter-Finals? 12-0.
Another run to keep an eye on: Kevin Durant scored in double figures in 25 straight games at the Olympics. The only player with a longer run in this century was Pau Gasol with 28 in a row.
Past matchups
Other than at the Olympics, these two faced each other plenty of times at the FIBA Basketball World Cup. The United States won eight of their 13 games, the last one happening in China in 2019, an 89-73 win to eliminate Brazil from Quarter-Finals contention in the Second Round.
Derrick White played 14 minutes and scored 4 points off the bench, as Steve Kerr watched from the bench as an assistant to Gregg Popovich. Jayson Tatum did not play, "coach decision" being listed in the boxscore.
For Brazil, Vitor Benite caught fire and scored 21 points in less than 20 minutes. Cristiano Felicio, Marcelinho Huertas, Didi Louzada, Bruno Caboclo and Yago Santos were also on that team.
Amazingly, there are four returning members from their hectic matchup 14 years ago. At the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2010 in Istanbul, Brazil had a chance to win the game, but Marcelinho could not convert a two-pointer while being fouled, as the ball went in and out.
Instead, he got two free throws with the scoreboard saying 70-68 USA, and just three seconds left to play. He missed the first one, then intentionally missed the second one, grabbed his own rebound, passed the ball to Leandro Barbosa, only to see his layup attempt bounce in and out at the buzzer.
USA held on for a two-point win, Kevin Durant being the man of the hour with 27 points and 10 rebounds. Steph Curry was on the bench for all 40 minutes.
Huertas had 8 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds for Brazil, while 18-year-old Neto watched from the bench.
FIBA