French phenom ruins otherwise solid Olympic debut for Warriors forward

Golden State Warriors forward Gui Santos has made a solid start to his Olympic career, playing 24 minutes off the bench in Brazil's 78-66 defeat to the hosts France on Saturday.

The Brazilians got out to an early buffer with a 23-15 first-quarter, yet it was Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama who headlined a dominant French performance from thereon particularly on the defensive end.

Young Golden State Warriors forward Gui Santos made a positive start but it was Victor Wembanyama who led France to victory over Brazil

Santos had nine points, two rebounds, three assists and three steals in 24 minutes, shooting 2-of-5 from the floor and 1-of-3 from three-point range. The 22-year-old's only three came from a tough step-back on the wing, while he also went 4-of-6 from the free-throw line.

Santos was the fourth leading scorer for Brazil who were ultimately limited to just 40.4% (23-of-57) shooting from the floor and 33.3% (7-of-21) from three-point range -- an unsurprising result given the front court pairing of Wembanyama and 4x Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert.

Wembanyama had 19 points, nine rebounds and two assists on 7-of-13 shooting, but it was the defensive side where he was most disruptive in recording four steals and three blocks in his 31 minutes.

Gobert also tallied a pair of blocks, while veteran forward Nic Batum was productive with an equal game-high 19 points along with five rebounds, two assists and two steals in the 12-point victory.

France have joined Australia and Germany as winners on Day 1, with a matchup between Greece -- led by Giannis Antetekounmpo -- and Canada currently underway. Team USA will make their first appearance of the Olympics against Serbia on Sunday.

Santos played 23 games for the Warriors in his rookie season, averaging 3.6 points and 2.1 rebounds in 8.3 minutes. The 6'8" forward is under a non-guaranteed $1.9 million contract for next season.