Path to gold medal paved for Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray at Olympics

Basketball group play at the Paris Olympics has officially concluded and both stars from the Denver Nuggets are still alive. Serbia and Nikola Jokic beat South Sudan on Saturday to finish 2-1 in their pool and clinch a spot in the quarterfinals. While Canada and Jamal Murray took down Spain on Friday to improve to 3-0 and also reach the quarters.

There were plenty of struggles along the way; Jokic and Serbia got pounded by 26 points by Team USA in their first game and Murray has struggled mightily on both ends for Team Canada as they pulled out three tight games.

But both players and teams have managed to reach the final eight and they’ll now battle to reach the podium. The competition now becomes a single elimination, bracket-style tournament with the remaining eight teams.

Team Canada’s path to a gold medal

Despite going 3-0 in group play, the Canadians will have their work cut out for them. They’ll open against the host country, France, and their superstar Victor Wembanyama. The French have struggled and they're short on guards, but they’ll have incredible bigs and a raucous crowd behind them.

If Canada can get past France, they’ll take on the winner of the Germany/Greece game in the semifinals. Germany has been one of the best teams in the tournament, led by NBA players like Franz and Mo Wagner, Dennis Schroeder, and Daniel Theis. Greece is short on NBA talent, but they have one of the best players in the tournament, Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Team Serbia’s path to a gold medal

Somehow, the path to gold may be even tougher for Serbia. They’ll open up against Australia, a team that has played well in this tournament. The Aussies have NBA talent like Patty Mills, Josh Giddey, Dyson Daniels, and others.

That will be a tough battle, but if Serbia gets through it will only get tougher as they’ll most likely set up a rematch with Team USA. The US have blown out the competition at every level and they remain heavy favorites to win the gold medal. 

That will be the toughest test there is, but somebody is going to have to beat the United States eventually, otherwise, everyone is playing for silver and bronze. We should be in for a very fun week of basketball. The first round of elimination games will take place on Tuesday with all eight teams in action.