Brazil pulled away from Spain late to win, 88-82, a result that may not appear to mean much … unless you look ahead to the gold medal round. By beating Spain, this is how the bracket (likely) looks – regardless of what happens in the USA-Argentina game happening right now (USA up 60-59 at halftime):

USA
Australia

Brazil
Argentina

—–

Spain
France

Russia
Lithuania

This still means we could get the USA/Spain gold medal game everyone wants. Of course, Spain has not looked very good the last few days. That could be the ol’ rope-a-dope – resting players, not giving away too much to strategy at either end, knowing that they’ll need to play nearly a perfect game to beat the Americans – or perhaps Spain just isn’t as good as everyone thinks. France – with Tony Parker – won’t be a gimmie, and Russia has been playing some of the best ball in the tournament.

Previously: Team USA Survives Fourth Quarter Challenge From Lithuania, 99-94