In a quarterfinal filled to the brim with star power — Victor Wembanyama and Rudy Gobert, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jamal Murray — of course the players who decided the outcome between France and Canada were ... Guerschon Yabusele, Isaia Cordinier and Mathias Lessort. Just like we all drew it up.

On an off night for Wemby and Gobert, it was France's much-maligned role players that stepped up in crunch time, building a big first-half lead and holding off a late Canada rally to carry Les Bleus to an 82-73 win and into the Olympic semifinals.

France came into this game reeling a bit, humbled by Germany in its final group-stage game and underdogs to a Canadian team that had yet to lose in Paris. In response, head coach Vincent Collet opted to shake things up in a major way, sitting Gobert and Evan Fournier and starting Yabusele and Cordinier in their place. 

"The main reason was the lineup from Canada," Collet said. "They always start the game with Dillon Brooks [at the 4] and they play small ball. And I wanted Wemby to start [at the 5], so that's why I put back Yabusele at the 4."

The gambit paid off almost immediately, as Cordinier — a former second-round pick of the Hawks who now plays in Italy — came out firing with 10 points in the first three minutes of the game. Without two 7-footers clogging things up, France's offense was revitalized, and its lighter, quicker defense hounded Canada on the other end — Canada went just 3-of-15 from the field in the first quarter, at one point missing eight straight shots. The result? A 23-10 lead after one quarter and a 45-29 lead at halftime.

"They came out the aggressors and they punched us in the mouth," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "They played with more force. They were the aggressors at both ends of the court."

Little by little, Canada tried to claw its way back, as France cooled off a bit and the duo of SGA (27 points) and RJ Barrett (16 points on 6-of-11 shooting). The lead was whittled to 10, then seven, then eventually as little as five in the fourth quarter. 

But every time Canada seemed to be mounting a run, the boulder would roll back down the hill, empty offensive possessions at the most crucial times and not enough help around the big two. Crucial to Canada's appeal as gold-medal contenders was its depth; if defenses keyed on SGA, Jamal Murray would be waiting in the wings. But Murray's anonymous Olympics ended with a resounding thud on Tuesday — he shot just 3-of-13 from the floor — and Dillon Brooks' shooting picked a bad time to fall back to Earth (1-of-9). 

Instead Wemby was the star who got the assist from his supporting cast: The reigning Rookie of the Year shot just 2-of-10 from the field, but Cordinier, Yabusele and Lessort combined for 55 of France's 82 points, at times just bullying Canada's undersized frontcourt for layups or free throws. 

"The game plan was definitely to involve the whole team,"  Wembanyama said. "On my side, it was to not force things, and take the shots that were open to me.

And when it came closing time, it was old friend Fournier who delivered the knockout blow, pouring in 12 points in the final period including a preposterous dagger of a 3:

This win doesn't answer every question we had about Les Bleus. Gobert played less than four minutes, calling into question his role on a team now built around Wembanyama. And the offense is still bumpy; when the dust settled, France was at 42% shooting for the game and 32% from 3. But one thing we do know about this team is that they'll always, always be physical, and a Canada team whose biggest question mark was always its size wasn't prepared to handle that matchup. Canada will almost certainly be back here, maybe in 2028; all of its core is still in its mid-20s, and there's more young talent coming. For now, though, these Olympics belong to the 7-foot-4 alien, and the supporting cast that managed to will him across the finish line when it mattered most.