Day one of the 2024 Paris Olympics marks the first day of the men's basketball competition, with four games on tap across Groups A and B. With the deepest and most talented field in the history of the Games, this year's tournament promises to be thrilling — and Australia and Spain got us started with a rollicking (and at times chippy) opener.

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Sharing a group with Canada and Greece, Australia faces an uphill climb just to make it to the knockout rounds. But the defending bronze medalists made a strong opening statement at Pierre Mauroy Stadium on Saturday morning, leading nearly wire-to-wire against a feisty Spain team to start their Games off with a crucial win.

The Aussies started off white-hot, with Josh Giddey going full point-forward mode and spraying the ball around to Patty Mills, Dyson Daniels and Jock Landale for easy looks. Australia racked up 31 points in the opening period — a gaudy number given the 10-minute quarters in international basketball — to take a 10-point lead into the second. 

To its credit, Spain never went away, crashing the glass with abandon and knocking down just enough shots from the perimeter — Santi Aldama and Sergio Llull combined to go a whopping 10-for-20 from deep — to hang around. After trailing the entire first half, Spain managed to snag its first lead on an Aldama 3 midway through the third. But Australia immediately delivered a response, hitting consecutive treys as part of a 15-3 run to regain control of the game. The Spanish would keep things competitive, cutting the lead back down to as little as four points with five minutes remaining, but cold shooting and some clutch shot-making from Mills, Jack McVeigh and others salted the game away.

Australia needs Giddey to be its offensive engine in this tournament, and the newest Chicago Bull delivered in the opener in a big way. He led the team in minutes and stuffed the stat sheet, posting 17 points, eight assists and seven rebounds and even knocking down two of three from long range. Landale was also a force, leading all Aussies in scoring with 20 points on 9/14 shooting, while Mills chipped in 19 of his own. 

Aldama led the way for Spain with 27 points, but he, Lull and Willy Hernangomez were the only Spanish players in double figures.

Tough matchups await both of these teams in their next games on Tuesday. Australia has a date with Canada, while Spain faces Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Greece.

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Give Japan credit: It certainly didn't play like a heavy underdog. Facing a medal contender with a bevy of NBA talent, the Japanese pushed the pace anyway, getting shots up early and often and finding a way to keep things competitive through the first three quarters. In the end, though, Germany's size and athleticism — particularly the quickness of Dennis Schroder — was too much to handle in a wire-to-wire victory. 

It seemed like Germany was set to run away with things amid a 17-6 second-quarter run that opened up a 16-point lead, but Rui Hachimura and former NBA wing Yuta Watanabe helped trim the lead to eight at halftime. Watanabe was the best player on the floor for Japan, knocking down three 3s in the first half and finishing with 16 points for the game. But Japan simply could not get enough stops, largely because they couldn't keep Schroder in front; the Nets guard lived in the paint, either finishing himself, throwing lobs to Moritz Wagner and Daniel Theis or finding an open shooter on the perimeter. Schroder finished with 13 points and a game-high 12 assists to just one turnover, while Franz Wagner led all scorers with 22. Germany stretched its lead to 11 by the end of the third, and pushed it to 19 early in the fourth. Hachimura is Japan's most credentialed player, but he was overburdened offensively, shooting just 4-for-19 on a bevy of tough looks toward the end of the shot clock.

The win puts Germany in good position to advance out of Group B, one that's wide-open behind host nation France. The Germans will face Brazil in the second game of group play on Tuesday, while Japan will face an uphill battle again in a date with the French.

How's that for an Olympic debut? Victor Wembanyama was everywhere for France, tying Nicolas Batum for the team lead with 19 points while posting a team-high nine rebounds, four steals and three blocks. Les Bleus got off to a bit of a sluggish start, perhaps due to the weight of expectation that comes with hosting the Games as medal contenders. But something clicked midway through the second quarter, leading to a 24-7 run to close the second and start the third quarters. Next up for France is a date with Japan on Tuesday, July 30, while Brazil meets Germany in a game it needs to win to keep its hopes of advancing alive.

It was nearly derailed by a near-superhuman effort from Giannis Antetokounmpo, but in the end depth — and some big-time shot-making down the stretch from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — got Canada's quest for a first-ever gold medal off to a winning start by a score of 86-79.

Giannis was a force of nature, barreling his way to the basket even if he had to get through three or four defenders on the way. Antetokounmpo put up 34 points and drew 10 fouls; the rest of his teammates, by contrast, put up 45 and 17 combined. But RJ Barrett (23 points, 8-of-13 from the field) got Canada out to an early lead and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander helped hold it late with his typical big shot-making, as two Jamal Murray free throws to put his team up five with under 30 seconds left finally iced things.