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The US men’s basketball team was blown up by the French with a shocking opening defeat at the Tokyo Olympics.
The Americans led the French team by 7 points with less than 4 minutes remaining, but the French team scored the next 14 points with a stunning 83-76 victory at the Saitama Super Arena.
Kevin Durant got into foul trouble early, scored 10 points on 4 of 12 shots in 21 minutes, and fouled in the final seconds. Jrue Holiday scored a team-high 18 points, while Bam Adebayo added 12 points in a difficult start for the three-time defending gold medalist.
This defeat marked the first time the U.S. team participated in the Olympics since it failed to win a medal in 2004.
After the defeat, coach Gregg Popovich defended.
Popovich said: “If you think the Americans should kick the ball out to win, I think it’s a bit arrogant.” “We have to work hard for it like everyone else. In those 40 minutes, they played better than us. .”
Evan Fournier scored 28 points to lead the French team.
“They run very well, but we just stick to our game plan,” Fournier said. “Secondly, you have to be honest, look at their roster, their players are very tired in the finals.
“We know they have not done their best yet, but this is a good victory for us. It is a great victory, and our country will be extremely proud of it.”
Milwaukee’s Holiday and Chris Middleton and Phoenix’s Devin Booker, who joined the team in recent days after participating in the NBA Finals, are all substitutes.
After the Americans also lost to Australia and Nigeria in the warm-up game recently, ESPN’s Stephen A Smith attracted attention in the United States.
“Okay! Now I am starting to worry,” he wrote on Instagram.
“Although losing this time is the most important thing, but they still lost 3 of the last 4 games. What the hell is going on? Damn it!”
The US men’s basketball team just lost their first Olympics since 2004, and honestly, they were defeated by a better team. After waxing at the age of 40, the days of just showing up and running a pickup truck and having other teams request photos are over.
-Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) July 25, 2021
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The Slovenia/France men’s basketball final will be epic. Luca vs Fournier? Hope we can steal the bronze medal.
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) July 25, 2021
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So my prediction of the silver medal for the US basketball team may actually be a bit optimistic. ????
-Colin Cowherd (@ColinCowherd) July 25, 2021
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Pistons forward Jeremy Grant dealt with the COVID-19 issue before the Olympics. He is the only player on the US roster who has not seen any action.
The U.S. team’s next game is against Iran on Wednesday. Iran lost 84-78 to the Czech Republic earlier on Sunday.
– New York Post
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