Team USA displayed one of its worst performances in years as they suffered elimination from the FIBA World Cup following an 89-79 loss to France. The Americans had won 58 consecutive tournament games in FIBA and Olympic competition with NBA players and were set to become the first team in history with three straight gold medals at the World Cup.
However, France was a better team today, and now Gregg Popovich’s side can only fight for the 5th position after securing a place for the upcoming 2020 Olympics.
Evan Fournier led France with 22 points, Rudy Gobert posted a double-double of 21 points and 16 rebounds, while Nando De Colo scored 18.
“We came here to win gold,” Gobert said. “We knew it wasn’t going to be easy. A lot of people counted us out, but we got the win. It doesn’t mean anything if you don’t win in the end,” he concluded.
Gobert’s teammate from the Utah Jazz, Donovan Mitchell, scored 29 points for the Americans, all of them coming in the first three quarters. They were scoreless on six consecutive possessions late in the fourth quarter and allowed the French to take control and ultimately celebrate a big victory.
Team USA 79 vs Team France 89 FIBA World Cup Box Score highlights:
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Donovan Mitchell: 29 PTS, 6 REB, 4 AST
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Nando De Colo: 18 PTS
Evan "Don't Google" Fournier: 22 PTS 3 REB, 4 AST
Rudy "Cry Baby" Gobert: 21 PTS, 16 REB, 2 AST, 3 BLK pic.twitter.com/LrNf1dXWQw— Per Sources (@PerSources) September 11, 2019
France had been 0-9 against Team USA in major international games, most of those were one-sided affairs. The previous meeting between the rivals was only a 100-97 U.S. win at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics three years ago.
USA will face Serbia in the consolation round at Dongguan on Thursday while France is going to Beijing to take on Argentina in the semis.
H/T: ESPN
