Top teams advance in Olympic men's basketball tournament with no surprise

Johannes Voigtmann (R) of Germany goes up for a basket during the men's basketball quarterfinal match between Slovenia and Germany at Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Saitama, Japan, Aug. 3, 2021. (Xinhua/Pan Yulong)

TOKYO, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- Top teams advanced with no surprises on Tuesday as the Tokyo Olympic men's basketball competition entered the knock-out stage at the Saitama Super Arena.

Title favorite Slovenia had little trouble to beat Germany 94-70 when Zoran Dragic scored 27 points and Luka Doncic added 20.

Slovenia, which had a perfect record after four matches, led from the start and only let Germany usurp the lead briefly in the second quarter.

Slovenia will face France, which defeated Italy 84-75, in the semi-finals.

Rudy Gobert had 22 points and nine rebounds while Evan Fournier added 21 points for France, which finished ahead of the United States in the group stage.

Italy had a fierce battle against France as Simone Fontecchio scored 23 points and Danilo Gallinari chipped in 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

Defending champions the U.S. ousted old rivals Spain 95-81 for their third consecutive win in the tournament, thanks to 29 points from Kevin Durant.

The aged Spain even led 21-19 in the first quarter and tied 43-43 in the first half, but Pau Gasol, 41, Marc Gasol, 35, scored zero and grabbed seven rebounds in total in the loss.

Rickey Rubbio, 31, had the game-high 38 points, but his team fell apart in the last quarter as the U.S. beat them 26-18 in the last 10 minutes for the win.

Australia set up a semifinal clash against the U.S. after overwhelming Argentina 97-59.

The semifinals will start on Thursday.