France was barely celebrating when the final buzzer sounded.
They didn’t find it surprising that the United States beat them again. This may be the most important indicator that other top international teams don’t fear the Americans after their three consecutive Olympic gold medals.
The 25-game Olympic winning streak of the U.S. has ended. France won the game with a 16-2 run and beat the Americans 83 to 76 in Tokyo Games. France took the lead with a 3-pointer by Evan Fournier off a broken play that was completed in under one minute. The Americans fell apart in the last minutes.
Fournier stated that the Americans are “better individually,” but “they can be beat as a team.”
This has been proved with alarming regularity over the past two years. The Americans are just 3-5 in their eight last games with NBA players, beginning with France’s victory over the U.S. in Beijing’s Basketball World Cup quarterfinals.
The U.S. missed its last nine shots. Five of those were in a 21 second span in the final minute after Fournier, who had 28 points to lead all scorers, made the decisive 3-pointer. Rudy Gobert missed a layup, but Guerschon Yabusele chased the rebound down and just before he dived into the U.S. bench, he took a desperate swipe at the ball to try to get it in Fournier’s path.
Fournier transformed Yabusele’s dive in to a dagger and voilà, the Americans are in Olympic trouble.
Gregg Popovich, U.S. coach, said that “I think that’s just a little bit too much if you think Americans are supposed to just roll the balls and win.” “We have to work for it like everyone else. They played far better than us for 40 minutes.”
Only six Americans were defeated in the 144 Olympic games. They fell to 53-4 in the Olympics, which featured NBA players. Athens Games 2004, the 2004 team lost three of the three remaining teams and took home bronze. The gold medal was won by every other U.S. team during the 1992 era, starting with the “Dream Team”. However, it is far from certain.
Popovich stated, “When you lose a match, you don’t surprise.” “You’re disappointed.”
Fournier scored 28 points for France. Rudy Gobert scored 14, and Nando De Colo 13. Jrue Holiday scored 18 points for the U.S. and Bam Adebayo had 12. Damian Lillard had 11 and Kevin Durant had 10. For the Americans, who are only 2-3 in their games this year, they were just four exhibitions in Las Vegas.
They were meant to be different.
They didn’t. They lost again.
Gobert stated, “It’s great.” It doesn’t really matter if we don’t have the things we want around our necks.
In recent years, it has not been possible to imagine anyone else leaving the Olympics with gold. It’s now very possible.
The U.S. lost a 10-point lead in the third quarter. Holiday also gave away a 12-point attack in the first 4 1/2 minutes of the final quarter. Holiday’s 12-point offensive saw the Americans go from six points down to begin the period to six points up at 5:23.
With 3:30 remaining, the lead for the U.S. was seven. France was 16-2 ahead of the U.S. from that point, with the Americans missing all nine of their shots. Five of them were missed in 21 seconds on the same trip down to the floor in the last minute. Three of those shots were from 3-point range.
Vincent Collet, France coach, said that Evan was “amazing.” “I don’t want to use large, big, huge words, but he made some big shots.
Although the U.S. is still in contention for medals, the loss effectively eliminates any margin of error. The Americans will face Iran on Wednesday, then the Czech Republic Saturday in its final two Group A matches. If they win both, the U.S. can reach the quarterfinals. Losing another game could mean that the Americans may not finish in the top eight of the 12-team tournament.
Durant was fouled for his fourth foul in the third. The FIBA limit is five points with 16:45 remaining in the game. After scoring three points, the Americans took a 7-minute lead. France took a 55-54 lead with De Colo’s 3-pointer at 2:42 in the third, its first lead since the first four minutes.
France led by 62 to 56 going into the final quarter. Holiday, who arrived in Tokyo Saturday, less then a week after helping Milwaukee win the NBA title, tried his best to get the U.S. victory in the fourth quarter, but couldn’t get enough support.
Popovich stated, “He was exceptional.”
This was the first meeting between the U.S.A. and France since the Basketball World Cup quarterfinals two years ago. The Americans lost the game on their way to a 7th-place finish, the worst result ever for a USA Basketball team featuring NBA players.
In the final 7 1/2 minutes, the U.S. was outscored 22-5. The U.S. lost 89-79. The final run of the game was 16-2 in 3:17, a seven-point loss.
The World Cup medal hopes were ended by the China loss. Although this loss doesn’t affect the Americans’ Olympic chances, another one almost certainly will.
Draymond Green, forward for the United States, stated that “we have to defend better down this stretch.” “And close out the games.”
TIP-INS
France: Frank Ntilikina was unable to attend the game due to “slight muscle discomfort.” The French federation said that Frank Ntilikina will miss the match. France won the first nine free throws. With 8:27 remaining in the second quarter, the U.S. failed to score a point until JaVale McGee crossed the line. After Holiday went knee-to-knee, Yabusele briefly left the game with 1:30 remaining in the second quarter.
USA: Durant committed three fouls in the second half. This is a rare occurrence in Durant’s 544 NBA games. … The U.S. used 11 players in the first period, with Jerami grant the only player who didn’t make it into the second half.
MOVING UP
Durant took the No. Durant moved into the No. 4 spot on the U.S. men’s all-time Olympic appearances lists. He has now participated in 17 games, leaving behind LeBron James (24), Carmelo Anthony (31) and David Robinson (24) There are 16 Olympic appearances by 15 of these players.
UP NEXT
France: Wednesday, face the Czech Republic
USA: Iran will face you on Wednesday