In the opening group stage game of Team USA’s 2020 Olympic run, the men’s basketball team met Evan Fournier, Nicolas Batum and Rudy Gobert with France.
Despite Team USA holding an eight-point lead at halftime, France battled back to steal a six-point advantage heading into the final quarter. The Americans surged to take the lead again in the fourth quarter, but struggled to close the game out.
Following a flurry of misses down the stretch from Team USA, France was able to seal a surprising upset win in the group stage, 83-76. Fournier scored a game-high 28 points on 11-of-22 shooting from the floor in 34 minutes. Team USA’s loss to France snapped a 25-game Olympic winning streak.
For the Americans, recently crowned NBA champ Jrue Holiday notched 18 points on 5-of-13 shooting from the floor with seven boards and four assists. Bam Adebayo, Damian Lillard and Kevin Durant all added double-figure scoring efforts.
Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green earned the start for Gregg Popovich’s squad, scoring two points on 1-of-1 shooting from the floor with four assists, four rebounds, two steals and a block in 21 minutes.
Watch highlights from Team USA’s loss against France via YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wV3SsWYV7wo
On Wednesday, Team USA will have the chance to stamp their first win in the Olympics against Iran at 9:40 p.m. PT.
[lawrence-related id=38679,38671,38673]
[vertical-gallery id=38563]
[listicle id=38675]