OLY: Australia, France look to outlast United States in knockout round

#1 United States (2-1) vs #2 Spain (2-1): Gregg Popovich and the United States prepare for quarterfinals bout, set to face familiar opponent in Spain

Team USA fell to France (83-76) in the Olympic-opener before wins against Iran (110-66) and Czech Republic (119-84) to secure second place in Group A. Kevin Durant (14.3 points, 5.0 rebounds) has been great, overtaking Carmelo Anthony as the all-time scoring leader, while Jayson Tatum exploded for a 27-point performance in the win over Czech Republic. Spain started 2-0 with wins over Japan (88-77) and Argentina (81-71) before falling to Slovenia (95-87) to finish second in Group C. Ricky Rubio (21.3 points, 7.3 assists) and Marc Gasol (7.7 points, 4.3 rebounds) have led the way so far but the roster is deep so Gregg Popovich will have to make sure his defense is engaged. The game is on Tuesday, August 3 at 12:40 AM.

#3 Australia (3-0) vs #4 Argentina (1-2): Patty Mills and Jock Landale looking to keep Australia undefeated, advance to play winner of USA-Spain

Australia was the best team in the preliminary round, running off three straight victories over Nigeria (84-67), Italy (86-83), and Germany (89-76) to finish atop Group B. Patty Mills was (21.7 points, 5.7 assists) scored a team-high 24 points in the recent win over Germany. Aron Baynes, Jock Landale, Joe Ingles, and others have also played important roles. Argentina is ranked just one spot lower in the world rankings but have struggled recently, losing to Slovenia (118-100) and Spain before beating Japan (97-77) to qualify for the quarterfinals. Facundo Campazzo and Luis Scola (19.7 points, 5.3 rebounds) have played well offensively but the team struggles to get stops consistently which will likely keep them from reach the semifinals.

#7 France (3-0) vs #10 Italy (2-1): Rudy Gobert, Evan Fournier expected to eliminate Danilo Gallinari, Nico Mannion on Tuesday morning

After beating the United States to start group play, France kept the momentum going with blowout victories over Czech Republic (97-77) and Iran (79-62). Evan Fournier (17.3 points, 2.7 rebounds) scored a game-high 28 points in the win over Team USA. Nicolas Batum, Nando De Colo, and Rudy Gobert (8.7 points, 7.7 rebounds) have been big for this team and will going forward. Italy has been a slight surprise, edging out Germany (92-82) and Nigeria (80-71) to finish in second place in Group B. Nico Mannion (15.0 points, 5.0 assists) and Simone Fontecchio have played at a high level so far and give Italy a small chance to upset France in the quarterfinals.

#16 Slovenia (3-0) vs #17 Germany (1-2): Luka Dončić looks to stay perfect with Slovenia as they take on upstart Germany on Monday night

Luka Dončić is 17-0 since joining the Slovenian national team including three straight wins in this tournament against Argentina, Japan (116-81), and Spain to win Group C. Dončić was the most productive player in the group stage, averaging 28.3 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 7.0 assists per game. Mike Tobey (11.0 points, 13.0 rebounds) and Vlatko Cancar have also helped pick up the slack. Germany has relied on Maodo Lo and Moritz Wagner (11.7 points, 3.3 rebounds) to carry a bulk of the scoring load. The only win for the Germany came against Nigeria (99-92) to finish third in Group C. This is the first game of the quarterfinals which will take place on Monday, August 2 at 9:00 PM in Tokyo.

Quarterfinal predictions:

- United States over Spain

- Australia over Argentina

- France over Italy

- Slovenia over Germany

Photo Credit: Celtics Wire.