The men's basketball tournament at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, began on 10 August and ended on 24 August, when the United States defeated Spain 118–107 for the gold medal. All games were held at the Beijing Olympic Basketball Gymnasium. The United States, nicknamed the "Redeem Team", defeated Spain in the gold medal game, finishing the tournament undefeated and winning the gold medal for the first time since 2000, while Argentina, the defending Olympic champions who lost to the U.S. in the semifinals, won the bronze medal.

Qualification

Format

Ties are broken via the following the criteria, with the first option used first, all the way down to the last option: All times are local Beijing Time (UTC+8).

Squads

Preliminary round

All times are China Standard Time (UTC+8)

Group A

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Group B

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Knockout round

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Quarterfinals

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Semifinals

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Bronze medal match

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Gold medal match

<section begin=E2 /> <section end=E2 /> The Americans got off to a slow start with the Spaniards hitting seven of their first nine shots; if not for a 10–0 run by [LeBron James](https://bliptext.com/articles/lebron-james) and [Dwyane Wade](https://bliptext.com/articles/dwyane-wade), the Americans would have trailed in the first quarter. With the USA leading by 14, Spain chipped away at the lead during the second quarter to cut the deficit to eight points. The teams traded baskets in the third quarter, with Spain cutting the deficit further to seven. A [three-point field goal](https://bliptext.com/articles/three-point-field-goal) by [Rudy Fernández](https://bliptext.com/articles/rudy-fern-ndez-basketball) cut the lead into two, the smallest deficit with 8:13 left in the fourth. [Kobe Bryant](https://bliptext.com/articles/kobe-bryant) and Wade extended the lead with three-pointers to 103–92 but Spain had a final push, capped with another three-pointer from [Carlos Jiménez](https://bliptext.com/articles/carlos-jim-nez) to reduce the lead to 108–104. In the final two minutes a three-pointer by Dwyane Wade and a Kobe Bryant field goal extended the lead back to 9. It is widely regarded as one of the greatest basketball games ever played.

Awards

Statistical leaders

Top ten in points, rebounds and assists, and top 5 in steals and blocks.

Points

Rebounds

Assists

Steals

Blocks

Game highs

Final standings

Rankings are determined by: