Devin Booker stars in Team USA’s blowout win over Brazil

Devin Booker did Olympic Book things in Team USA’s breezy 122-87 win over Brazil in the quarterfinals of the Olympics on Tuesday.

Booker was masterful in the quarterfinals victory over Spain in 2021 and it was the quarterfinals again three years later that brought the best out of him. He was arguably the best player on the floor, and while his 18 points led the way, it was everything else as usual that stood out more.

His nine-point surge over seven minutes of the first quarter included a few plays that won’t show up in the box score, like tipping out a defensive rebound away from a Brazilian player and deflecting a lob pass around the basket. That is the type of impact he has brought with the USA jersey in both Olympics and why he is vital to its success as “the perfect FIBA guy.”

“You just never know when you’re night is going to be,” Booker told NBC postgame. “You always have to be prepared for it. Locking into the details of the game is the important part (and) defending at a high level is what the team needs.”

Kevin Durant wasn’t required of much and contributed 11 points, passing Lisa Leslie on the all-time Team USA Olympic scoring leaderboard.

Booker and Durant remained in their roles from pool play, with Booker starting and Durant coming off the bench. Booker has been an irreplaceable glue guy for two straight Olympics while Durant’s scoring punch as a reserve with Anthony Edwards is a special dynamic head coach Steve Kerr is looking to maintain as long as he can afford to. And that opens a starting lineup spot for Jrue Holiday, who has formed an awesome one-two with Booker in role player duties from All-Stars.

Kerr took advantage of a blowout by giving Booker only 15 minutes ahead of the semifinals on Thursday and medal round on Saturday. Playing three games in five days is a typical NBA workload but Kerr rested Booker ahead of two games in three days when the two-guard could play 30-plus minutes in each.

Brazil briefly got within eight points early in the second quarter before a 15-0 run led by LeBron James closed out the first half and put the Americans in the driver’s seat with cruise control activated, up 27. James as the point guard has taken charge of a few furious flurries in the middle quarters that have blown the game open to keep the fourth quarter uncompetitive. James had 10 of his 12 points and eight of his nine assists in the opening two quarters while a 14-point first half for Joel Embiid was not only a big boost for him but the team too.

Team USA’s ball movement might not be popping off the screen but it has been incredibly efficient and concise thanks to a star-loaded group that all understands basic passing rotations off lopsided defensive alignments. It was a dozen assists on 13 made field goals in the first quarter and the Americans ended up with 31 dimes on 45 buckets.

Brazil wasn’t expected to be much of a test and the only acceptable result was a procedural result like Tuesday to continue building confidence for the more significant matchups. The United States now advances to the semifinals against Serbia, with the winner of Germany and France on the other side of the bracket. Germany has separated itself as the second-best team in the tournament while France was underachieving until a spirited handling of Canada on Tuesday in front of its home fans put everyone on notice.

Team USA-Serbia Olympic semifinals preview

Thursday will be the third meeting between Team USA and Serbia in the last month. Both have been convincing American wins, with the second in pool play featuring a Durant scoring explosion in the second quarter and a huge third period that made the result formulaic in the end. Out of respect to the quality of the Serbian side, the odds are low that it will be three straight finishes lacking any real drama. But then again,  maybe that’s just how good this Team USA squad is.

The Serbs are led by Nikola Jokic, the best player in the world who completely dominated the overtime period in the quarterfinals against Australia after a tremendous comeback in regulation. He might be the favorite for player of the tournament. Former Suns draft pick Bogdan Bogdanovic is a terrific FIBA player and has been having a great tournament through his deep scoring arsenal.

The supporting cast, though, struggles to knock down 3s. Serbia is shooting 32.4% from deep in four games. Despite that and an offense that doesn’t come close to orbiting around Jokic as much as it should, it is averaging 95.5 points per game, so we should see a shootout on Thursday.

America’s largest advantage in the matchup is athleticism and pace. Serbia lacks the type of length and quickness on the wing that defines a lot of what modern basketball has become. So if Team USA keeps the game in the half-court defensively by limiting turnovers offensively, it will be in prime position to cruise once more. The engagement has to be there on defense to seize this advantage or else Serbia, second in the tournament in assists per game, has the connectivity and passing chops to find the right gaps.

Jokic impressively had a plus-minus of zero in a 26-point loss to the Americans while Serbia shot 9-of-37 (24.3%) on 3s. Booker and Holiday were both called upon in the pool play victory to pester Serbian guards Aleksa Avramovic and Vasilije Micic, capable playmakers that spark the ball movement beyond Jokic. We should see some of Anthony Edwards and perhaps Derrick White on those two as well.

Expect Serbia to start drilling 3s. FIBA tournaments often feature March Madness-esque spurts from underdogs of unbelievable shot-making and a parade of triples. With how little Team USA has been tested, it feels like it is due and Serbia’s numbers indicate it is in its own right. How Kerr decides to tighten up his rotation, if at all, when this occurs against either Serbia or another team is the fascinating wrinkle everyone is curiously waiting on.

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