Both Joel Embiid and the American squad looked good against Brazil in quarterfinal action on Tuesday. However, it wasn’t the cleanest start for Embiid and Team USA. A pick-and-roll between Embiid and Steph Curry was broken up and the ball was knocked out of bounds. Embiid then got the ball on the block, was doubled, and then turned it over for an easy bucket for Brazil. He made up for it soon after by nailing a top-of-key three off a Devin Booker double team. The Americans raced out to a 16-6 lead before a Brazil timeout.

Embiid was able to get another easy bucket on a short hook shot off a Booker drive. Embiid had one of his patented midrange jumpers blocked by the extra active Bruno Caboclo, but made another three on the next possession. It was a decent opening run for Embiid who had eight points and three rebounds in his first stint. Team USA was up 27-14 when Embiid checked out.

It was a mostly dominant first quarter as the Americans held a 33-21 lead.

When the starters checked back, the lead was 40-26. Things were a little shaky for that unit again as Curry and Embiid had a miscommunication on a pick-and-roll which led to another turnover. Brazil went on a run, cutting the deficit to 42-32 — but Embiid and Team USA came roaring back.

Embiid nailed his third three of the half and then encouraged the crowd to get louder. It’s been cool to see his teammates stand up for him as they joined Embiid in taunting the crowd. The lead grew back to 14 as head coach Steve Kerr made the decision to have Embiid switch instead of playing drop coverage. While Embiid might not be as great as Anthony Davis or Bam Adebayo in that regard, he showed he can hold up just fine. He came up with a great block on Marcelo Huertas and had another excellent defensive possession which ended in him soaring for a rebound.

The bow on Embiid’s game came when he rebounded a missed dunk by Jayson Tatum. Embiid was able to put it back and was fouled on the play, which naturally led to Embiid doing his infamous DX chop celebration. Snoop Dogg even joined him!

It felt like the best basketball Embiid has played for Team USA. At the half, he had a game-high 14 points (5-of-6, 3-of-3 from three), seven rebounds and one assist. The Americans held a massive 63-36 halftime advantage.

With USA Basketball holding a 20-plus point lead heading out of halftime, head coach Steve Kerr opted to start Bam Adebayo over Joel Embiid in the second half with the rest of the starting group. It’s unclear if it was just rest with their big lead or something else, but Embiid did not return. Team USA maintained a healthy lead to start the third quarter, with LeBron James and Devin Booker picking up the scoring load.

With just over three minutes left to go in the third, Kevin Durant made history — becoming the leading scorer all-time in USA Basketball (both men and women) on a backdoor cut. Team USA’s lead ballooned to nearly 30 points, with Brazil chipping in a few buckets to keep the score looking somewhat respectable. After an Embiid-less third quarter, Team USA led Brazil, 94-79.

The fourth quarter started off with Anthony Edwards heating up with a dunk and bank-shot that set the tone for pretty much all of the fourth quarter. With the starting unit out, USA and Brazil basically exchanged baskets for all of the period. Team USA held onto and extended their lead, cruising to a victory 122-87. Team USA will advance to the semifinals, to play Nikola Jokic and Team Serbia on Thursday.