Olympics Men’s Basketball Day 1 Winners: Australia, Germany, France

Olympic basketball in the 2024 Paris Games has been off to a hot start, with ball clubs from different nations slugging it out for a chance to qualify for the medal rounds and call themselves the world’s best.

Australia and Spain will open the men’s tournament in the Group Phase A while Group Phase B will begin with the battle between Japan and Germany to be followed by Brazil meeting the host team France in the main game. 
 

Australia opened the Men’s Basketball tournament with a bang by defeating world’s No. 2 Spain 92-80 in the Group A phase.

NBA veteran Patty Mills opened the scoring for the No. 5 ranked Aussie team by converting three free throws followed by Jock Landale three pointer to have a 6-0 lead early in the opening frame.

The Boomers erected a double-digit lead in the 1st half of play but Spain refused to give up and even took the lead for a while before the Aussies put the game away during the final frame.

Josh Giddey, Jock Landale and Patty Mills combine for 56 of Australia's 92 points in their Group A win.

The debuting Giddey wrote himself into the record books by becoming the first player to combine 15+ points, 7+ rebounds and 7+ assist in his first game at the Olympics, putting his name alongside the legendary Drazen Petrovic who made the same feat in 1984 against Italy.

Germany showed their might against Japan to secure their first Group Phase B game in the Paris Olympics.

The No. 3 ranked Germany dominated the No. 26 Japan 97-77 led by NBA-based Wagner brothers, Franz and Moritz, with the former the game's top scorer with 22 points. Ever-reliable veteran Dennis Schroeder also chipped in 13 points and 12 assists.

A combined 36 points from Rui Hachimura and Yutanabe (who both played in the NBA) were not enough to give Japan a win over the reigning World Cup champions.

In the first two quarters of play, the Japanese managed to hold the lead of the Germans into single digit but was unable to sustain the pace in the second half as the Die Mannschaft flexed their might.

Germany is hoping to secure a first Olympic medal in men’s basketball after winning its first world title in 2023.

Host team and world’s No. 9 ranked France defeated No. 12 Brazil 78-66 in full-pack Stade Pierre Mauroy where fans cheered and sang to the rhythm of 'tambour' drums in support of Les Bleus.

San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama who’s a first time Olympian scored 19 points to lead his team to victory while another NBA veteran Nicolas Batum added the same number of points for the team.

The NBA sophomore nicknamed “The Alien” because of his 7-foot-3 inches (2.22 m) frame, added nine rebounds, four steals, three blocks and two assists in his debut game as an Olympian. He also shot 7-of-13 from the field.

The opening game win for Les Bleus tied them with Germany to lead Group Phase B in the standings.