PARIS (France) - Never in doubt. The United States dominated their Quarter-Finals matchup with Brazil, taking the lead early on and protecting it the rest of the way, cruising to the final four phase.
The final score said 122-87, meaning the USA and Serbia get a second rendez-vous in France this summer.
Turning point
The defending champs were off to a flying start, but Brazil made it interesting with the 41-year-old Marcelinho Huertas making his trademark mid-range shots, and finding Lucas Dias in the corner to cut the deficit to -8 with four minutes to play in the first half.
But that only made LeBron James and Joel Embiid mad. The two of them led a monstrous 21-2 finish to the second quarter, opening up a 63-36 lead at the halftime.
There was no comeback from that deficit after the break.
Game heroes
It cannot be only one because this was a gigantic team effort by the United States.
LeBron James played less than 17 minutes and still ended up with 12 points and 9 assists. Joel Embiid had 14 points and 7 rebounds in just 12 minutes of the first half, and sat out the second half completely.
Devin Booker knocked down five threes to finish with 18 points, Anthony Edwards scored 17, Anthony Davis 13, while Kevin Durant counted to 11, passing Lisa Leslie as the new all-time leading scorer for Team USA at the Olympics.
He is now just two wins away from becoming the first player to win four Olympic gold medals.
Stats don't lie
Brazil had a game plan hoping they would have an above average shooting day, but it did not happen. They finished the day shooting 12-of-37 from deep, not enough to complicate things on the court.
Bottom line
The United States take on Serbia next, a team that they've beaten twice this summer, but also in the Finals of the 2016 Olympics and the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2014, meaning they know each other very well.
Brazil, meanwhile, made the most of their summer. Coach Aco Petrovic brought the team back to the Olympics by stunning the hosts at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Latvia in July, then battled proudly with Germany and France, defeated Japan and had their moments against the United States.
If this is the end for Marcelinho, he made sure we remember him well. He had 9 points and 5 rebounds in the first half when he looked like he was the youngest, not the oldest on the floor.
Bruno Caboclo was once again their top performer, pouring in 30 points with 6 rebounds.
They said
"We have a lot of scoring guards, it's our job to give them second chance opportunities, offensive rebounds, defensive rebounds, blocks, just do our parts. (Joel Embiid) has been aggressive, dominant and that's what we're gonna need in the next game. He came out ready to play, obviously the crowd booing him feeds into it, he embraces it, and he's been the spark on our team." - Anthony Davis, USA
"It's not about having depth, it's about us playing the right way. We worry about that first, we don't worry about matchups, we got one of the best teams out here, so for us it's about going out there and playing the right way." - Bam Adebayo, USA
"That's who LeBron is. To me, for a guy who truly is a point forward at heart. For him to be the leading scorer in NBA history, well that's kind of a secondary thing that he does. It's crazy, but that's LeBron. He's kind of our point guard with this team, and he's playing at such a high level." - USA head coach Steve Kerr talking about LeBron James's passing
"It's a challenge. Serbia is really good, and we can't get lulled to sleep because we beat them twice. We have to be prepared for their best effort, we have to think about what are they gonna do differently, Jokic - does he play 40 minutes? What else could they have up their sleeve? Or do they just play their game and give it another crack. But every game is so different and unique." - Kerr on Serbia
"The biggest problem was when we had our good run, when we got to -8. That's when we thought that we're in the right rhythm and my players started speeding the game up even more. That's when we ended up in a hole too deep to escape from it." - Brazil head coach Aco Petrovic
Quick notes
USA's all-time record in Olympic Quarter-Finals: 13-0
Brazil have now lost their last five Quarter-Finals, and are 0-10 against the United States at the Olympics
Bruno Caboclo became the first player to score 30+ in back-to-back games at the Olympics since Oscar Schmidt and Jose Ortiz did so in 1996
The last team with six men in double digits in elimination phase was, of course, USA, back in the Semi-Finals against Argentina in 2008
FIBA