USA basketball loses to France in Tokyo 2021 Olympics

SAITAMA, Japan (AP) — For the initially time due to the fact 2004, the U.S. men’s basketball group has dropped in the Olympics. And the Americans’ quest for a fourth consecutive gold medal is presently in critical problems.

France — the group that knocked the Americans out of contention in the Basketball Globe Cup two many years in the past — dealt the U.S. a significant blow once once again. Evan Fournier’s three-pointer with just underneath a minute still left place France in advance to remain in what grew to become a eighty three-76 get over the Americans on Sunday in the opening video game for the two teams at the Tokyo Olympics.

The U.S. had gained twenty five consecutive Olympic online games, final getting rid of at the Athens Games seventeen many years in the past and settling for a bronze medal there.

“I feel that’s a tiny bit of hubris if you feel the Americans are intended to just roll out the balls and get,” U.S. coach Gregg Popovich mentioned. “We’ve bought to operate for it just like everybody else. And for these 40 minutes, they performed much better than we did.”

Fournier had 28 details for France, while Rudy Gobert scored fourteen and Nando de Colo had thirteen. Jrue Holiday break had eighteen details for the U.S., Bam Adebayo had twelve, Damian Lillard eleven and Kevin Durant had ten for the Americans — who are just two-three in their online games this summer season, the initially 4 of them exhibitions in Las Vegas that weren’t intended to indicate a lot.

The Olympics, they had been intended to be different.

They weren’t. Going again to the Globe Cup in China two many years in the past, the Americans are three-5 in their final eight online games with NBA players in the lineup.

“I indicate, it’s great,” Gobert mentioned. “But right until we have what we want to have around our neck it doesn’t definitely make any difference.”

The concept of any individual else leaving an Olympics with gold has not been all that real looking in recent many years. Now, it’s pretty true.

A ten-stage U.S. lead in the 3rd quarter was squandered, and so was a twelve-stage barrage from Holiday break in the opening four ½ minutes of the fourth quarter as the Americans went from 6 details down to start out the period to 6 details up with 5:23 remaining.

The lead was 7 with three:thirty still left. France outscored the U.S. sixteen-two from there, and the Americans missed all nine of their pictures — 5 of them in a 21-second span on the identical excursion down the ground in the closing minute, 3 of these from three-stage vary.

The dagger came off a damaged play Guerschon Yabusele dove to save a ball from going out of bounds on the French offensive conclude, flailing and slapping it to Fournier. He caught the ball in entrance of the U.S. bench and designed a three-pointer that place France up for fantastic with fifty seven seconds remaining.

“Evan was awesome,” France coach Vincent Collet mentioned. “I don’t want to use massive, massive, massive words and phrases, but he designed some pretty massive pictures.”

The decline doesn’t knock the U.S. out of medal contention, but it in essence eliminates the margin for mistake. The Americans play Iran on Wednesday and then the Czech Republic on Saturday in its closing two Team A online games get the two of these, and the U.S. will be in the quarterfinals. Lose a different 1, and the Americans may well not even end in the leading eight of this twelve-group match.

The lead was ten for the U.S. early in the 3rd quarter following Durant scored the opening basket of the second half. But the offense went into a complete sputter for a lot of that period — and that, mixed with Durant’s foul problems, led to massive challenges.

The Americans scored 3 details in a 7-minute span of the 3rd, Durant picked up his fourth foul — the FIBA limit is 5, bear in mind — with sixteen:forty five still left in the video game, and that once-comfy lead was before long long gone. De Colo’s three-pointer with two:forty two remaining in the 3rd place France up fifty five-54, its initially lead due to the fact the game’s initially 4 minutes.

De Colo related once again for a fifty nine-56 lead, then Thomas Huertel designed a different three late in the 3rd to place France up 62-56 going to the closing quarter.

It was the initially time the U.S. and France performed due to the fact the quarterfinals of the Basketball Globe Cup two many years in the past, a video game that the Americans dropped. France has 7 players on its Olympic roster from that group the U.S. has only two, but the significance was not dropped on the other ten — who’d read a good deal about it.

The U.S. was outrebounded in that video game 44-28, gave up 22 details off turnovers and bought outscored 22-5 in the closing seven ½ minutes. The closing was France 89, U.S. seventy nine, a decline that removed the Americans from medal contention and despatched them freefalling to a seventh-location end that was the worst ever by United states Basketball in any match with NBA players.

And in a largely empty arena in the vicinity of Tokyo on Sunday evening, France did it once again — dealing the U.S. an even greater blow.

Idea-INS

France: Frank Ntilikina missed the video game, with the French federation declaring he proceeds to deal with “slight muscle discomfort.” … France took the game’s initially nine free of charge throws. The U.S. didn’t shoot 1 right until JaVale McGee went to the line with 8:27 still left in the second quarter. … Yabusele still left the video game briefly with 1:thirty still left in the half following going knee-to-knee with Holiday break.

United states: Durant had 3 fouls in the initially half, one thing that’s took place only ten moments in his final 544 NBA appearances. … The U.S. employed eleven of its players in the initially half, with Jerami Grant the only 1 who didn’t get into the video game.

Shifting UP

Durant moved into outright possession of the No. four location on the U.S. men’s all-time Olympic appearances checklist. He’s now performed in seventeen online games, at the rear of only Carmelo Anthony (31), LeBron James (24) and David Robinson (24). There are fifteen players with sixteen Olympic appearances.

UP Future

France: Deal with the Czech Republic on Wednesday.

United states: Deal with Iran on Wednesday.